How To Thaw A Frozen Heart
by Wixeron
Summary: The Snow Queen didn't think much about romance until the enigmatic Viking King is included in her list of suitors. Having thawed and captured each other's frozen hearts, now all that stand between their love are just cultures, politics, conspiracies and a threat that will revolutionize the whole world. A fantasy adventure romance set after HTTYD2 and Frozen.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **Yeaaa…the idea for this story originally isn't for HTTYD but rather Frozen. Been obsessing about Frozen when the trailer for HTTYD2 comes out and then I got obsessed about it to. So yay! Go figure?

I'm not very good with timelines but I'm pretty sure that the HTTYD's timeline doesn't match with Frozen's and I'm preeeeety sure they are very very far apart (HTTYD maybe in the 8th century and Frozen in 18th? That is so very far apart).

But! The power of fanfic allows you to do as you please! Muahahaha!

So, in this story, the both HTTYD and Frozen are in the same timeline, also, Hiccup is 22 and the events of the second movie has come to pass (since the movie isn't out, I have to make my own version of why and what happen). Oh and Elsa is 23.

Take note however that this story will not be **purely ****romance. **Oh no, there will be adventures, conspiracies, killing and the standard fantasy story elements. So don't expect romance between our two favorite characters all the time.

**Disclaimer: **I wish and dream I own both materials but sadly I don't. I wanna cry now. **How To Train Your Dragon and Frozen is owned by Dreamworks and Disney respectively. I also do not own any song or music that will be used in the story. What I own are my OCs and storyline.**

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><p><strong>How To Thaw A Frozen Heart<strong>

**- A FanFiction by Wixeron -**

**...**

**Prologue - The Proposal**

The Queen of Arendelle or as she was famously known, the Snow Queen Elsa sighed as she leaned back into her chair. Being a leader was never easy, especially as the ruler of a kingdom as you always have to make decisions that are often hard to make.

And right now, Elsa had quite a decision to make.

You see, being a single ruler without an heir to the throne led to succession problems and that was never a good thing for a kingdom. Sure if anything happens to her, the next in line for the throne would be Anna, her younger sister and Princess of Arendelle. But what happens if anything were to happen to Anna?

Anna.

Elsa smiled at the thought of her sister's name. Her sister was basically behind almost everything that happened in her life when she thought about it. The good and of course the bad things as well. But she did not regret it and wouldn't trade anything in the world for what had happen to them.

Elsa took a cup of hot chocolate from her work desk and took a sip of it, enjoying the wonderful taste of chocolate in her mouth. She sighed in contentment and went back to her thoughts, to Anna again.

Despite everything that had happened, Elsa and Anna was still royalty and have responsibility to their kingdom. Anna was very lucky that she met her true love (she hope it was true after 'that' incident). Even luckier that Elsa approves and supports Anna's relationship with Kristoff and allows for their marriage (even though they haven't considered it yet). If Elsa wasn't the queen, their relationship might not happen due to Kristoff's status as a commoner.

But, Elsa was very grateful that everything that happened in her life had happen the way it is. If not, Anna might have to be married to a foreign prince or duke and moved out of Arendelle, leaving Elsa alone or worse, married to someone that does not love her. It almost happened before. But now, she doesn't need to move out of Arendell and could stay with her.

Now, all Anna had to do is marry Kristoff, make some babies and Arendelle's succession problem will be solved! Right?

Not really.

You see, being a queen who also was single was not easy. This was because a single queen was very enticing to men, especially men of power. It was the chance for a prince, duke or other what not to be king. And who wouldn't want to be king? And not to mention that even kings would take this chance for more power and land grabbing.

And thus she received lots and lots of marriage proposal disguised as alliance treaty of sorts. It was surprising really. She never thought that men would desire her since she's a...freak. Of course, her own people never called her as such since they knew and understand. But what about those that don't? Hell, if she wasn't the queen, she was sure that there would be witch-hunters coming for her head.

It showed that well, with power and position, you might be able to get away with almost everything. It showed that for power, men would do anything, even braving a life with the Snow Queen.

Well, at least no kingdom declared war on her yet because of her power.

If anything, her status as the Snow Queen has made her and her kingdom more famous than before.

Still, she couldn't just flat out refuse her suitors in fear of offending them and affecting future relationship with her kingdom.

Although a part of her wanted to refuse all of them as she wanted to experience love and especially wedding to a person of her own choosing. Well, technically, if she chose a suitor it would be a wedding of her own choice, but what about love?

She wanted love like Anna had at least.

Sometimes she envied her sister. Anna doesn't need to lead Arendelle as Elsa was there to do it. She doesn't have to worry who she would have to be married to as Elsa had taken care of that as well (Elsa could have just ignore her relationship with Kristoff and marry Anna to a foreign prince, but she wasn't that heartless). She could enjoy the perks of royalty without doing much and that was quite heavenly if Elsa had anything to say in the matter. But as long as her sister was happy, she didn't mind.

She doubted that she can love any of those suitors. It wasn't that she's a pessimist but because of her status and power, it wasn't easy for her to love, especially after what she had been through.

Meanwhile, her queenly part of her told her that choosing a royal suitor would be wonderful for the future of her kingdom. Another part of her told her that she can rule well without the help of a man, thank you very much.

But still, it would be nice to have someone to help her, to share everything she had and to want her not because of her kingdom or power but because of herself.

Elsa sighed again and put down her cup. She then picked up the list of suitors that are available for her to choose from.

The list of suitors was quite long and she felt a little giddy at being desired, even though for different reasons. Although according to Anna, she wasn't lacking in the beauty department (she was told that Anna envied her exotic and regal beauty). She examined each name and their association carefully, thinking of where each suitor comes from and what advantage that Arendelle could gain from it, that is, if she were to choose a suitor.

Elsa raised an eyebrow when she reached a name. The name was Prince Dieter of the _Southern Isles, t_he very same place where 'that' guy came from. Elsa then searched for the official letter from the Southern Isles and was about to read it when the door burst open and Anna came bounding in at her older sister.

"Elsa! Do you wanna build a snowman?" Anna asked and Elsa smiled.

"I want to, but maybe a bit later? I'm going through something for a bit," Elsa replied and Anna pouted for a moment before her face brightened again.

"What are you doing then?" Anna asked and Elsa was tempted to brush her off and say that it doesn't concern her. But then, it wouldn't be fair to her sister as it was the matter of _kingdom _and they promised not to keep secrets or hold anything from each other anymore.

"Well, you know that there are a number of…parties 'interested' at me, correct?" Elsa said and Anna only nodded in reply. "Well, it seems that one of the parties is from the Southern Isles,"

Anna gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "No way! The nerve of them! Are they trying to insult us? That good for no-"

"Anna," Elsa cut her sister short and began to skim the letter. "They're saying that what 'that person' did was not known to them and they will see to it that he will be sufficiently punished. They want to mend the relationship with our kingdom,"

"Well, mending relationships doesn't always need for marriages between the two kingdoms! They could do just as well by giving compensation!" Anna finished with a huff and her hands on her hips.

Elsa smiled at this. "That is true. But you can't blame them for being an opportunistic,"

Anna eyed her sister suspiciously, "Sooo, please don't tell me you're considering the Southern Isles as your possible suitor…"

Elsa lightly laughed at this. "Why not? At least it would spite 'that person',"

Anna smiled at this. "Well, that's true. Sooo," Anna moved closer to her sister and placed her hands on the chair's arms. "Do any of the suitors interest you?"

Elsa smiled and sighed at this. "All of the suitors' personal biography looks very very interesting. Of course, I wouldn't be surprised by that,"

"Buuut?" Anna continued.

"Until I've meet them in person I cannot decide then. You can't judge a book by its cover after all, isn't that right, dearest?" Elsa finished with a sly smile.

Anna withdrew and rubbed her arms together and looked away with a sheepish look. "Eheheh. Well to be fair, you've met most of them,"

Just then the Kai, the head servant of the castle appeared at the door and knocked at the open door to announce his arrival. He looked worried. "Excuse me, Queen Elsa and Princess Anna, I have something that requires Your Highness's attention,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this. "What is it?"

"You received another marriage proposal…from the Vikings of the Viking Kingdom of Berk," Kai said and Anna gasped.

"Vikings? Aren't they savages? Brutes? I heard that they pillage villages and burn them and kidnap and ra-" Anna said but was cut short by Elsa.

"_Thank you, _Anna," Elsa said and glared at her sister for a moment before returning her attention to Kai. It seems that Kai wasn't finished yet.

"There is more, Your Highness, the Berk Vikings has sent their emissaries and they are awaiting your highness's presence to deliver the marriage proposal personally," Kai finished and Anna gasped again.

Elsa was shocked for a moment before gaining her composure. "Thank you Kai, please tell the emissaries that I will be there shortly,"

Kai nodded and gave a curt bow before taking his leave.

Elsa sighed again. Although she never encountered Vikings personally, the Kingdom of Arendelle and the rest of the world had their fair share of encounters with them. Most of it were not well. The Vikings were not unified but rather splintered into clans or tribes. Most of those tribes were as Anna said, savages and brutes, preferring to invade, raid and pillage villages and settlements as well as attacking ships. Fortunately, some were not as 'brutal' as they preferred to trade to get what they want rather than using violence.

Unfortunately for them, as the tribes were not very big, they were often…annihilated by the larger countries and kingdom for their transgressions. Because of this, Viking activities around large kingdom's and continent were rare for more than three decades.

But then, Elsa remembered something very interesting.

"Viking Kingdom?" Elsa said to herself and Anna turned to look at her. "Have the Viking tribes united under a single banner?"

This wasn't going very well for Arendelle, Elsa mused. This was because the Vikings' origin was quite close to Arendelle. Should they choose to invade…

Elsa looked at the list of suitors again. Suddenly, those names look very interesting to her.

**Meanwhile, an hour ago…**

Ever since the Eternal Winter of Arendelle two years ago and Elsa's powers were revealed and accepted, there was no need for further isolation. Thus, Arendelle has opened its ports for trading with other kingdoms. Because of this, it wasn't weird to see people of different cultures at Arendelle's port.

However, today, Arendelle would see her weirdest visitors yet, because the visitors were Vikings. The Vikings were twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut who were the assigned the task as Kingdom of Berk's emissaries.

Which was weird because if you knew the twins from when they were little, you wouldn't trust them with such an important job at all. The twins, ever since they were small were known for their tendency to fight with each other, cause havocs and more importantly, stupid.

But that was when they were little, and soon they grew up and the weight of responsibility as well as the numerous events they had in their lives matured them. Added with the fact that Hiccup revamped the whole Viking's system of education (and personally taught them himself), and suddenly, the twins weren't so stupid any more.

If anything, they became even more dangerous than ever before. Back then, they would fight each other for the most trivial of things. But now, they would plan with each other and two heads is better than one after all.

Because of this, they were one of Hiccup's most trusted when it comes to handle things that require finesse.

That and Fishlegs wasn't very good with people as he was with statistics and Snoutlout considered being an emissary as 'lame'.

"Geez, look at 'em sis. It's like they haven't seen a Viking before," Tuffnut said while eating an apple.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes at his brother. "Of course they haven't. Vikings rarely set foot here. Speaking of which, _we _shouldn't be here either,"

Usually, their job was as emissary to other smaller states or villages within the Kingdom of Berk. To be honest, they never interacted with other kingdoms before this.

Tuffnut grinned at this and apple juice leaked from the left side of his mouth. "I know! We're doing this behind his back! It's like when we were little, wreaking havoc and stuff,"

Ruffnut groaned. "Riiight, back then our damage was only to our people, Tuffnut. But here, we mess up and the whole kingdom would pay for it,"

Tuffnut wiped the apple juice from his mouth before continuing. "I know, I know, but come on, we can't isolate ourselves for ever. Hiccup thinks that it is for the best to protect the dragons but for how long? Besides, have you seen the stuff this kingdom has? They got silk! I'm sure Gobber wouldn't mind!"

Tuffnut then took out a parcel of purple silk and watched it with interest. "Phew! The things that we have to do to get this. It's better be worth it to at least bring Gobber to our side,"

"I'm sure Gobber will side with us. He sees more logic and reason than Hiccup does lately anyway," Ruffnut replied.

"I know, right! Geez, what happened to the old super-trusting Hiccup we know? Back then, any stranger with good intention – well at least when they appear to and Hiccup wouldn't hesitate to teach them about dragons! Now, he's like super paranoid and stuff," Tuffnut said and stored the parcel away.

"You can't blame him. We grow up, reality kicks in and a lot has happened. Including…Astrid," Ruffnut said and suddenly, the wares on the side of the road seem more interesting.

Tuffnut sighed and threw his finished apple in a trash basket nearby. "I know, it's been years already and a lot of people are worried. Even his father,"

"Yeah. I know it sounds harsh especially to Astrid but I wish he would move on! He's all mopey and shit. Do you know he evaded me for a long time because I reminded him of Astrid?" Ruffnut said and Tuffnut snorted.

"Yeah, it was ridiculous. It's as if you're his ex or something. Still, this is our chance! It will be good for our kingdom and Hiccup!" Tuffnut said with a grin.

"Riiight," Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "By trying to play matchmaker with him and the _Snow Queen_ of all people?"

"Hey, don't look at me. Hiccup doesn't show any interest at the other Viking girls ever since Astrid. And Hiccup is always weird, so I figure his taste would be weird too. Maybe he'll like the Snow Queen?" Tuffnut replied.

"But she resembles Astrid too much!" Ruffnut said.

"What? Pffft! No she doesn't! The Snow Queen is like, the opposite of Astrid," Tuffnut replied.

"Yeah right, say that to Hiccup when he sees her. Well, I guess that since we've come this far, it's going to be a waste if we give up now. So are we gonna do this or not?" Ruffnut said and crossed her arms.

"Hell yeah! Hiccup's not the only that can come up with plans!" Tuffnut said with a sly grin.

"Yeah! Especially, crazy convoluted plans!" Ruffnut replied with her own sly grin.

"Let's go!" They both said and rammed each other's head, resulting with a loud 'thunk!' sound that attracted everyone's attention.

"Arrgh! Oh, that feels awesome!" Tuffnut said and they both heads towards the castle.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>So, this chapter hints a bit at the world building I have in mind for the HTTYD's side. A lot of things happened to Hiccup and the gang, especially to Astrid. What exactly happened to Hiccup and Astrid I wonder?

Who knows!

**Read and Review!**


	2. Chapter 1: A Viking's Tale

**Author's Note: **Hello readers! Second chapter is here. To tell you the truth, this chapter was originally a part of the first chapter but it became too long so I have to cut it into different chapters.

To reader **JanessaVR: **Thanks for reviewing! Now for your review, what you've point out is true and I've also thought about it before writing this story. To tell you the truth, I'm not an expert in the exact mechanics of the monarchy system but I try to write it to my best understanding. So your future input will definitely be useful.

Anyway, here's my explanation of what Elsa was considering.

1) While it's true that there is a difference between a Prince Consort and a King, to most men, becoming a Prince Consort is close enough to being a King. After all, the treatment and privilege received is almost the same. A man that doesn't care about running a kingdom would be content with the title and Elsa wouldn't want that kind of man.

About the ruling power, while it is true that Elsa can limit the power of the Prince Consort, there are many ways for the Prince Consort to gain power. The first is that he can use social engineering to get what he wants (such as suggestions or subtle manipulations and stuff). The second is even worse…he can have the queen removed entirely so that he will have absolute power.

This was what Hans tried to achieve in the movie. He could be less evil by sparing Anna and keep her in the dark but then he wouldn't have total power and would have to resort to manipulations to get what he want instead of having direct control.

This is what Elsa feared in case she chooses the wrong suitor. She wasn't afraid of the Prince Consort having ruling power or not, she was afraid if he tries to get it and the method he would use to do it.

2) It's true that a political marriage alliance is usually between prince and princess, and it would be seriously hard if it is done between the ruling monarch instead. This of course will be a plot point in the story as both Hiccup and Elsa will realize this fact.

Elsa doesn't want to sacrifice her sister's happiness and so wouldn't marry her to a foreign prince or king and Hiccup knew that he couldn't leave his throne, and it would be easier if he were to choose someone from his kingdom instead. But for his and Elsa's happiness, would he do it?

Alright, on to the story!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own HTTYD or Frozen. They both belong to Disney and Dreamworks.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 - A Viking's Tale<strong>

"Introducing, Emissary Tuffnut and Ruffnut from the Viking Kingdom of Berk!" Kai announced and the twins bowed courtly before the Snow Queen in Arendelle's court. Elsa was dressed in her Snow Queen attire as Anna called it instead of her normal official attire. She didn't want to wear it in front of foreign officials but Anna can be very persuasive.

"Woah! The rumors were true! She is a beauty!" Tuffnut whispered while they were still bowing.

"Yeah, if Hiccup still refuses her, I'm gonna punch him!" Ruffnut replied.

"And I would go for her!"

"And you too!"

The twins continued to bow for a while and Elsa raised an eyebrow at this. Anna, who was at her side could only glance at her sister.

'How long are they going to bow? Is this their custom? Should I do something? And what strange names, Tuffnut and Ruffnut?' thought Elsa.

The twins then straightened and coughed. "Ahem, greetings o' fair and beautiful Queen of Arendelle! We are from the glorious Viking Kingdom of Berk! And we wish to build a friendly and hopefully, permanent relationship with the fair Kingdom of Arendelle!" Ruffnut said.

Tuffnut then took out a round metal shield with Berk's crest and on top of the shield is a sword, book and the official letter that states the intent for the marriage proposal. Tuffnut then moved forward and presented the items to Elsa.

Elsa took it and thanked Tuffnut before he resumed his position at Ruffnut's side. Elsa took the letter first and began to read it before Ruffnut spoke.

"If there is anything that Your Highness wish to know, you can just ask," Ruffnut said and Elsa gave the letter to Kai.

"Well, yes and I hope you won't mind answering them?" Elsa said and Tuffnut grinned.

"Not at all," Tuffnut said with a grin and his sister elbowed him.

"Manners," Ruffnut whispered.

Elsa raised an eyebrow but decided to continue. "Well, for starters, I rarely heard of the Viking Kingdom of Berk and especially about your King…" Elsa's eyebrow was raised again at the name of the Viking King.

"King Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third!" Tuffnut said proudly and Anna let out a snicker before she managed to restrain herself. Elsa glared at her and Anna managed a meek apology at the Viking representatives.

"Naw, to be honest, we Vikings have a terrible naming sense, now that we think about it" Tuffnut said and waved his arm at Anna. Ruffnut rolled her eyes at Tuffnut's casual way of speaking. "The name Hiccup isn't the worst; in fact, it sounds much better when compared to Fishlegs,"

At this Anna laughed out loud and Elsa herself chuckled before regaining herself. "Fish-fishlegs? Wha-why?"

Elsa glared at her sister again and sent a wave of chill down her spine and Anna let out a small 'eep!' and apologized again.

"Well, those names were supposed to be scary to the trolls and gnomes," Ruffnut shrugged and gave up on the notion of formal talk.

Elsa, Anna and Kristoff who was among the other officials in court, looked at each other at the mention of trolls.

"I see. Regardless, you must forgive my court for our lack of knowledge on your kingdom," Elsa said, hoping to find out more about the Viking Kingdom.

"Well, that…" Tuffnut began. "It's not surprising if you don't know, the Viking Kingdom is still young,"

"And chose to isolate itself," Ruffnut whispered to herself.

"Young?" Elsa asked.

"U-huh," Tuffnut nodded. Arendelle's officials were kind of taken aback by the twin's casual way of speaking to their ruler, but in their mind, it was expected from the 'savages'. Elsa, meanwhile, didn't mind and was more interested in knowing more about the Viking Kingdom than worrying about etiquette for the moment.

"You see, the Viking Kingdom of Berk was only established a year ago," Ruffnut said and one of the Arendelle's officials smirked at this. The kingdom was too young and they hope to gain alliance with one of the oldest kingdom in the region?

"I see," Elsa said. "But, the last time I heard about the Vikings, there weren't anything bigger than tribes and clans. To think that the Vikings were finally unified,"

"Tell me about it. We Vikings are very stubborn," Tuffnut said and Ruffnut continued. "We have stubbornness issues. It wasn't easy getting them all under one banner,"

Elsa eyed the twin Vikings for a moment. They didn't tell her how exactly they unify the Vikings, but she has the impression that a lot of force was used. This was worrying. What would stop them if she refused the Vikings offer? Would they come and use force on Arendelle too?

"It must have taken a great person to be able to unite such…stubborn people," Elsa said, trying to find out more about their leader.

"Weeeell," the twins turned to look at each other. "When you put it that way, yeah he is great if compared to other Vikings," Ruffnut said.

"Come to think about it, we kind of took his achievements for granted, huh?" Ruffnut said while rubbing her chin.

"Well, he is weird, after all," Tuffnut shrugged.

Elsa's eyebrow was raised again. How many times have she done that today, she wondered. 'What a strange group of people. How could they describe their leader as such in front of other leaders?'

"Well, I'm afraid I have to know more about King Hiccup," Elsa said and glared at her sister, warning her not to laugh, in which Anna gave her an innocent look. "if I were to accept his proposal,"

"Eheheh," Tuffnut chuckled. "And that is why we gave you that book, Your Highness,"

Elsa turned her attention to the book that she received along with the shield and sword. The shield and sword seemed…plain when compared to ceremonial swords that she was accustomed to. Regardless, she handed the shield and sword to Kai and took the book.

Anna took this chance to scoot closer to her sister to observe the book. Elsa didn't stop her and instead smiled.

On the cover of the book was the crest of a…dragon? It was written in a language that she didn't understand. Elsa turn the page of the book and to her surprise, the book wasn't filled with texts like she was used too, but rather, it was more of an illustration book much like a children's fairy tale book.

Tuffnut cleared his throat and drew Elsa's attention away from the book.

"We are going to tell you the story about our GREAT king! The story of King Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the very First King of the Viking Kingdom of Berk!" Tuffnut began. "Hear hear!"

Elsa raised her eyebrow again. During her reign as Queen of Arendelle, she had her fair share of suitors coming to declare their intent. Of course, some suitors came personally and…bragged about their achievements. Some of course sent their representatives like what the Viking were doing and had them told of the suitor's achievements instead.

The representatives were more…restrained of course. The Vikings method was…refreshing to say the least.

'This should be interesting,' Elsa thought.

"The story begins on the Isle of Berk, 8 years ago before the Viking Kingdom of Berk was established. It's twelve days north of hopeless and few degrees south of freezing to death and it is located solidly on the meridian of misery," Tuffnut said.

Elsa and Anna exchanged looks. "Uuhhh…"Anna said slowly to her sister.

"It is our village and in a word, sturdy and it's been there for seven generations-"

"I think more," Ruffnut cut in.

"-but, every single building is new," Tuffnut ignored her. "Oh and turn the pages of the book,"

'The buildings are new? Even though they have been there for a long time?' Elsa wondered and she found the first page which showed what supposed to be the village of Berk. The colored illustration was very well done in her opinion.

"We have fishing, hunting and a charming view of the sunset. The only problem was the pests. You see other places have mice or mosquitoes..." Tuffnut continued.

"But we have DRAGONS!" Ruffnut said and everyone gave them weird looks. Ruffnut then made a motion with her finger which signaled for Elsa to turn the page and Elsa complied. Her officials were quite angry at the Vikings giving order to their Queen but couldn't do anything without their Queen's consent.

Elsa turned to the next page and found the village of Berk was now under siege by dragons and the buildings were on fire.

"Ah, so that is why the houses are new," Elsa said with a smile.

Anna however, was astonished that was what Elsa was paying attention too. "Umm, Excuse me, dragons? But they don't exist…"

"Oh so you're calling us liars then?" Ruffnut crossed her arms and Elsa glared at Anna which caused her to shrink to a little.

"Sorry…" Anna meekly replied. Elsa was about to say something when Ruffnut smiled and waved at her.

"Naw! Don't worry, we expect that much from you guys," Ruffnut said. "But yeah, they do exist, it's just that for some reason, most of them live where the Viking Kingdom is located.

"I see…" Anna replied.

"Well, there are other dragons living in other parts of the world. It's just that they're elusive, and hunted down to extinction," Ruffnut continued. "So they became legends and myth. Like for example, the Chinese Dragon which resembled an overgrown snake more than a lizard,"

"Or the Mountain Dragons living in the western parts of the world. Didn't end well for the dragons, poor thing," Tuffnut shook his head.

"I see. Please continue with the story, I would like to know more," Elsa said. 'Why would they mention dragons? It seems that it would be important…' Although Elsa doubted about the existence of dragons, she didn't deny it completely like most people would. Besides, if trolls and magic can exist, so can dragons.

"Alright!" Tuffnut began again. "Now you see, dragons have become a part of our lives for so long that it was ingrained in every Viking to slay the beast!"

Ruffnut signaled for Elsa to turn and she did. The page shows the battle between the Vikings and the dragons. The Vikings depicted were rather…cute. It was as if the book really was made for children.

"But! Hiccup was a rather…strange Viking," Tuffnut said. "Where other Vikings would say "Kill the dragons!", he would say "Train the dragons!". And that was what he set out to do,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.

"Now you see, there exists many varieties of dragons. There are dragons that set themselves on fire! Dragons that eat rocks and spew lava!" Tuffnut continued in such a way that it was as if he was telling a horror story.

Well, it worked on Anna. She was shrinking closer to Elsa with every dragon mentioned. Ruffnut signaled and Elsa turned the page to see many varieties of dragons and most of them look very menacing.

"Dragons that have rotating mouth and teeth that can eat through the earth and burrows underground! Dragons with two heads! Dragons that can turn invisible and spit melting acid! Dragons that can spit boiling water!" Tuffnut said Ruffnut rolled her eyes and elbowed her brother.

Tuffnut got the hint and continued with his tale. "Well, Hiccup doesn't want to train any of the dragons mentioned, he wanted to train the rarest, and most dangerous of all dragons. The _Night Fury…" _Tuffnut dragged the name for emphasis.

"Night Fury?" Anna said meekly. Ruffnut signaled and Elsa turned to see an illustration of the night sky but there was a silhouette of a dragon.

"Oh yes! The Night Fury! Before Hiccup, there was never a sighting of it and nobody has ever killed one! And it only attacks during the dark. It was the fastest dragon ever recorded and the smartest too," Tuffnut said. "When it attacks, there will be a menacing sound…"

Tuffnut then enacted the sound a Night Fury makes before a high speed attack. "And then all you see is purple bolt of fire and lightning and BOOM!" Ruffnut signaled again and this time, it shows the devastation of a single bolt from the Night Fury.

Anna jumped with an 'eep' and to be honest, Elsa jumped a little too.

"And it never misses," Tuffnut said slowly.

"Now you might think, how can it compare to other dragons? Well, you see, the reaction when seeing a dragon is "Kill on Sight," but when facing a Night Fury? "Never engage this dragon. Your only chance is to hide and pray that it does not find you,"" Tuffnut resumed the tale.

"For it is the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself," Ruffnut continued in a similar scary voice and Anna squeaked again.

"And Hiccup decided to…train the Night Fury?" Elsa asked and the twins nodded.

"Yup. So knowing that he couldn't catch one on ground he made a device that can shoot a snare to capture the dragon!" Tuffnut said and Ruffnut signaled. Elsa turned and the illustration showed a…

'A boy?' Elsa wondered. 'Are they saying that Hiccup managed to train one of the most dangerous dragons in existence when he was just a boy? And that he created the device?'

Well, to be honest, her other suitors have bragged of their achievements of hunting animals when they were young. But…a dragon? And what's more, he didn't kill it, but train it. If the story was true, then it would be a man with –pardon her language- balls of steel to do so.

"He then managed to capture the beast, and confronted it," Tuffnut continued and Elsa turned the page a beat faster than Ruffnut's signal.

The illustration showed the trapped Night Fury, its black body tied with ropes and Hiccup standing near the dragon. Strangely enough, the illustration of Hiccup only showed his back and not his face and front.

"Hiccup then freed the beast and though it wasn't easy, he managed to gain the beast's trust and tame it!" Tuffnut said and Elsa turned the page. The page has many illustrations on it. The first showed Hiccup (only his back again…) holding out a hand towards the Night Fury.

For one of the most dangerous dragons known to mankind, the Night Fury looked…cute with its huge green eyes and fins around its face.

"Hiccup named the beast…_Toothless," _Elsa heard Tuffnut said as her eyes landed on the image of Toothless…grinning? Smiling? And as the name suggests, it was toothless.

'The great and fearsome beast is without teeth?' Elsa smiled.

Anna chuckled at the name. "But, do not let the name fool you! For the beast is able retract its teeth much like a snake!" Tuffnut said Anna let out a small 'oh'.

"Anyway, Hiccup managed to train the dragon well enough to ride it and fly!" Tuffnut said and by this time Ruffnut stopped giving Elsa the signal as she knew enough when to turn the pages.

The illustration showed Hiccup riding the dragon and flying among the night sky. Again, the illustration didn't show his face and by this time Elsa knew that the book intended to make Hiccup as mysteriously as it can.

"And then, through the interaction with the dragon, Hiccup learned many great things about them," Tuffnut said and Elsa turn the page and saw illustrations of Hiccup doing various things with Toothless such as playing in a tall grass, shining a light on the ground and scratching it in various places.

"He also learned of the terrible truth," Tuffnut said and Elsa turned again. The illustration showed various dragons converging to a place, and Toothless, along with Hiccup was among the dragons.

"It turns out that the reason why the dragons attacked the Vikings was because they have to bring food to their queen," Elsa heard Tuffnut narrating the story and turn to the next page showing the dragons dumping food down into a massive mouth.

"Having learned of the truth, Hiccup went back to his father, Stoic The Vast who was the chief of the village. Hiccup said that it would be impossible for them to take on the queen without the support of the dragons. But alas, his father did not believe in the cooperation with dragons and left towards the island with his men to kill the queen," Tuffnut narrated and Elsa turned the page showing Hiccup arguing with his father. Another illustration then showed his father along with his men heading towards the island where the queen is located.

"Like we said, stubbornness issues," Ruffnut shrugged.

"Anyway, when they reached the island and lure out the queen…" Tuffnut said and Elsa turned the page. "The RED DEATH APPEARS!"

Anna was startled but Elsa's attention was to the illustration of the dragon queen or the Red Death emerging from its mountain lair. The illustration did not fail to express the beast's size and might, showing in scale the size of the Vikings near the dragon queen.

"The dragon queen was the size of a mountain and it was the largest dragon ever known to the Vikings. It has many eyes and its mouth was so huge it could crush a ship easily! And it can spit a jet flame…"

Elsa turned and saw the Red Death spitting out fire at the Viking's ships. "…that can project for half a mile long!"

Anna gasped at this.

"Fortunately, Hiccup managed to teach his friends on how to tame dragons. They then flew towards where the battle was to help their Viking brethren," Elsa turned the page and showed Hiccup along with four more Vikings with their dragons engaging the dragon queen.

"Although their efforts were commendable, the dragon queen could not be taken down so easily," Elsa turned to the next illustration, showing the dragon queen weathering their attacks with ease.

"Hiccup then engaged the dragon in a one on one duel, in the sky," the next illustration showed Hiccup and Toothless flying to the sky with the Red Death following behind it. The other illustration then showed the duo attacking the queen from the cover of the clouds and the queen retaliated with long stream of fire around the clouds.

"And then, in a brilliant move, he exploited the queen's weakness!" Tuffnut said. Elsa turned and saw Hiccup and Toothless diving to the ground followed by the queen. The queen was about to shoot its breath of fire when Toothless shot a purple ball of fire and lightning into its mouth first. The result was that the queen's innards were set on fire as it dived towards the ground.

Hiccup and Toothless pulled back into the air at the last second while the queen plummets towards the ground, resulting in a large explosion of fire.

"But, victory costs and Hiccup paid the price," Tuffnut said sadly and Elsa turned and saw Hiccup and Toothless desperately trying to outmaneuver the destroyed remains of the queen but they were hit by its large clubbed tail.

Hiccup fell first and Toothless the dragon desperately tried to save its master before the flames consumed both of them. The next image showed Toothless on the ground and its wing covering its master. Hiccup's left leg was...

"Oh," Anna said softly and Elsa turned the page quickly.

"But, he survived, and because the queen was defeated, the dragons no longer have the need to attack Berg again. Thanks to his effort, the Vikings and Dragons are able to live together," Tuffnut said.

The illustration showed Hiccup waking up to his village, filled with Vikings and dragons together.

"And that's the end of the first part!" Tuffnut finished and Elsa found out that there was no more to the book.

"First part?" Elsa said as she closed the book.

"Well yeah, because that's one of the most interesting part of the history of the Viking Kingdom," Tuffnut said.

"The rest is kinda…not so much. You know, training the dragons, meet new dragons and stuff," Ruffnut added. "Well, at least until the Dragon-Viking War and the Viking Unification Campaign. But going into detail into those two will take too much time,"

"I see..." Elsa said.

"So we're giving a summary instead!" Ruffnut continued. "The Dragon-Viking War is about Drago Bludvist, a dragon hunter. This guy made Hiccup realize that not all Vikings share his view about the dragons. I mean, before the Viking Kingdom, only Berk was friendly with the dragons. The other Vikings still kill dragons and got killed by them. Then we have guys like Alvin the Treacherous that wanted to use the dragons for evil purposes and other guys like that crazy Dagur,"

"Hiccup decided to share his views of the dragons to the rest of the Vikings. And since we have stubbornness issues, he has to hammer his point home sometimes. Thus, the Unification Campaign," Tuffnut said.

Elsa calmly looked at the twins, trying to gauge them. This was what she wanted to know; how exactly did Hiccup 'convince' the rest of the Vikings to his side?

"I see, how exactly did he…'hammer' his point home?" Elsa asked.

Ruffnut shrugged before replying. "Eh, most of the tribes came willingly enough after hearing what he did, kinda like what we just did,"

Elsa turned to look at the book again. No wonder it was so simple! The book was a propaganda material!

"That and having dragons by your side can be very convincing. Some needed more convincing and we have to make agreements and what not. Some are very stubborn and flat-out refuses to follow Hiccup's way," Ruffnut continued and Elsa turned to look at her again.

"That is until Hiccup gave them a sound beating!" Tuffnut said with a loud cheer.

"How did he beat them?" Elsa asked again. So far it seems that Hiccup was a smart leader that doesn't resort to violence unless he needed to. She hoped that it would remain that way.

"Well, most of the tribes' ideologies are centered on their leader. If the leader hates dragons, replace said leader and problem settled! The rest of the tribe became more open after that," Tuffnut answered.

"How do you replace the leader?" Elsa asked again.

"Battle. Hiccup challenged them to a one-on-one fight. He gave quite the impression too, what with his flaming sword and all," Tuffnut said.

"Flaming sword?" Elsa sounded worried. 'Great, he rides dragons, creates devices and makes weapons too,'

"Yeah, and it's not just the sword mind you. The Vikings shit their pants seeing him fight. They said he fought like a dragon!" Ruffnut added.

Tuffnut snorted at this. "Yeah, you know he has A LOT of titles, from Dragon Conqueror, Dragon Whisperer, Dragon Trainer, Dragon Tamer," Tuffnut said as he counted on his fingers. "Even Dragon King too. Oh and the latest is Dragonborn,"

"Dragonborn?" Elsa asked.

"Yup, they said that he has the soul and blood of a dragon but body of a man," Ruffnut explained. "They even said that his roar can send people flying and he can breathe fire,"

Elsa gave them a confused look as if wanting clarification of what they said is true.

"Ehh, well, it's not easy to anger Hiccup to the point of having him scream at you, so we couldn't test that theory out. And since he could make a fire sword, I guess it will be a matter of time till he makes something that can make you breathe fire," Tuffnut shrugged.

"I guess," Elsa said and asked again. "But what about the tribes that completely refuses his ideology?"

"Eh, well we conquer them. It's not unusual for the Vikings to war against each other. It didn't take long to conquer them though; the longest was what, the Berserker tribe?"

"Yeah, Dagur's tribe. It took a week to conquer them. And that's because Hiccup aimed them first and we didn't have much force with us at that time," Ruffnut answered. "The hardest battle was against the Sky Fang Tribe. Vikings on dragons versus the other Vikings on dragons. It lasts only for a day but it was damn messy. Lost a lot on that day," Ruffnut said with a sad tone.

"Yeah…" Tuffnut joined and suddenly, the loud and cheery twins became quiet.

Elsa was speechless for a moment. The twins were so jovial about everything even when retelling their moments during their war. But to have their mood changed suddenly means that something big must have happened during that particular moment.

Perhaps, they lost someone dear to them?

"Well, I guess that's all about our Kingdom!" Ruffnut suddenly said in her cheerful tone again.

"Yes, I do believe so for the moment," Elsa said with a smile.

"And I believe that it is time take our leave!" Ruffnut said again.

"Won't you at least stay the night? I wouldn't want to be a bad hostess," Elsa offered.

"Nah, we can't leave our dragon unattended for long. Like Hiccup says, bringing an animal that's not native to an ecosystem could seriously damage it. For all we knew, Barf and Belch could have eaten most of the animals in your forest to extinction,"

"Barf and Belch?" Elsa asked.

"Our dragon's name. Like we said, we have bad naming sense, especially when we were younger," Ruffnut shrugged. "Hey, you wanna see a real dragon up close?"

The twins grinned at this and Elsa felt a shiver ran up to her spine. It was scary looking the twins like that; it was as if they were planning something…evil?

The other officials of Elsa's court gave her a worried look. They didn't believe in the existence of dragons and thought that the Viking emissaries made it up to make them look impressive. But to have them willing to prove it so casually...

Anna however, jumped at the chance. "Oh can we? Can we sis?" Anna turned to look at her and Elsa gave her a curious look.

"Weren't you the one scared of their _descriptions_?" Elsa said with a sly smile.

"Well, yeah but-but dragons!" Anna said with a high pithed tone and Elsa shook her head slowly.

"Alright let's go," Elsa said. Besides, she needed to see the dragons herself, because if they do exist, then Arendelle would have a very big problem.

**...**

"Alright, before we call our dragon, ground rules-" Tuffnut said to Elsa. They were at Arendelle's garden now waiting for the supposed dragon to show.

"-first, your guards must not show their weapon. I understand that seeing a magnificent beast such as a dragon can be scary the first time, buuuut, this is more for your protection than us or our dragon," Tuffnut explained. "You don't want to the dragon to see you as a threat, now would you?"

Elsa didn't reply for a moment, contemplating whether or not to trust the Viking emissaries about her safety and Anna.

"Don't worry, we're expert dragon handlers. Don't make any sudden moves or you might startle the dragon," Ruffnut added.

"Yeah, second rule, what she said," Tuffnut said and Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Oh and Your Highness, can you try not to…_freeze _our dragon?"

Elsa smiled slyly. Well, it's not like Elsa wasn't capable of defending herself. She was the Snow Queen after all. "Very well, guards, leave us,"

The guards look at each other and hesitated before retreating away from the garden. Kristoff look worried and moved towards Elsa.

"Elsa, are you sure about this?" Kristoff asked.

"Yes. Can you hold Anna back for a moment until it is really safe to approach the dragon?" Elsa asked the ice harvester. Kristoff looked at her for a moment before sighing.

"Fine, you sisters can be a handful at times," Kristoff said and went over to Anna to bring her away from Elsa despite her protests.

"Will this be enough?" Elsa asked the Vikings and the twins surveyed their surroundings before nodding.

"Yup, 'kay, here it is. The moment of truth!" Tuffnut said and the both of them began to…shout at the sky with an animal sound that she never heard before. The twins did this for a minute before stopping and faced the Snow Queen.

"'Kay, they should be here in minute," Ruffnut said and began checking her nails. Meanwhile Tuffnut was checking his satchel for something. After a while, he found what he was looking for and brought out a…fish. He then handed the fish to his sister and took out another one.

Suddenly, the sound of an animal's roar could be heard in the sky and a shadow covered them. Ruffnut looked to the sky and whistled. Everyone looked at the sky to see a huge flying creature covering the sky.

Anna gasped but seemed more excited than scared while Kristoff was embracing Anna. The other officials of the court were wide eyed and some began backing in fear.

Elsa's heart was beating fast and ice began to form on her hands.

"Woah there, Your Highness! Be cool…uh..forgive the pun, but don't do anything rash. Show the dragon you can be trusted and it will trust you," Tuffnut said and Elsa hesitated for a moment before she nodded and dispelled the ice.

"Heeeere guys!" Ruffnut jumped and waved at the shadow. The shadow then approached the ground and everyone could finally see the form of the dragon.

The two headed green dragon landed near the twins in front of the Elsa. The dragon's head began to move around to examine its surrounding and especially the people from Arendelle.

"Hey there guys, have you been good?" Ruffnut said and stroked the dragon's neck, drawing the attention of one of the heads to her.

"You didn't eat the whole animal population, didn't you?" Tuffnut said and the other head went to him. They both then began rubbing their snout and fed them the fish. The dragons, to Elsa, looked happy.

"Your Highness," Tuffnut and Ruffnut turned to face Elsa. "Meet Barf and Belch. Would you like to touch them?"

"That..I'm not sure if it's a good idea…" Elsa said and wished she had her gloves with her now.

"Naw, don't worry! In fact, why don't we have the Princess join us?" Ruffnut said and Tuffnut began to fish out two more fishes.

Elsa's eyes narrowed at this. "That is not a good idea,"

Anna however, liked the idea very much. "Sister! Let's do it, pleeeeease?"

"Look, the Zippleback has two heads, which means it has two personalities. You have to convince both heads to like you," Tuffnut explained and handed her a fish.

Elsa's officials were fuming at the back at having their queen handed raw fish like she was some commoner.

Elsa eyed the fish, the twins and the dragon which were looking at her with curious eyes. They look…harmless for the moment.

The Queen sighed. "Alright. Anna, come here," Elsa said and took the fish with both hands. She never handled a raw fish in her life before so she was taken aback by the feeling.

Anna struggled to break free from Kristoff but he released her reluctantly. She then excitedly went to take a fish from Ruffnut and waited.

"Alright, ready? No sudden movements now," Ruffnut said and the twins brought both heads towards the sisters. The head approached them carefully and eyed the offering for a moment before opening its mouth.

The sisters sent each other a look before putting the fish into the dragons' mouth. The dragon swallowed the food before nuzzling the sisters.

Anna squeaked but thankfully it didn't startle the dragon.

"Now, scratch them," Ruffnut said and Anna didn't need any more pointers before she scratched the Barf's head. Barf looked happy and Elsa decided to do the same to Belch. Soon, both dragon head's eyelids closed in contentment at the affection they were receiving.

"Aaaw, you're a big softie, aren't you?" Anna said and began cooing at Barf and Elsa smiled. The sisters continued scratching the dragons for a few more minutes until the twins stopped them.

"Alright, I guess that's enough for the demonstration!" Ruffnut said and the sisters stopped. Anna pouted but didn't say anything as the Barf moved away from her.

"So, that's all from us for now. We'll be taking our leave then to report to our King," Ruffnut said.

"Will I hear from your Kingdom again?" Elsa asked.

"Oh you will!" Tuffnut grinned. "Expect another visit within less than a week and this time, our King will come. That I guarantee,"

"I see…I look forward to it then," Elsa replied with a smile.

"Well then Your Highness, it's time for us to go," Ruffnut said and the twins mounted their dragon. The dragon then began to flap its wing and rise to the air. "Oh and one more show!"

When the Vikings were high up in the air, one of the dragon's head let loose a stream of green gas in front of them and the other dragon ignited it with a spark, causing and explosion of flame.

The group of people gasped, including Elsa and when the flame was gone, so was the Vikings.

Elsa looked at the sky for a moment before turning to look at Anna. Anna didn't say anything and gave her sister a worried look. They both were silent but they didn't need words to tell what they were thinking.

Reality dawned on everyone that witnessed what happened today. The Vikings have dragons and it would be unwise to make an enemy out of them.

Elsa had to make sure that it won't happen.

**...**

High up in the clouds, a two headed dragon can be seen flying casually. On top of the dragon's heads were two Vikings seemingly in a good mood.

"So! Phase 1 success?" Ruffnut asked her brother with a grin.

"Success? We ACED it!" Tuffnut said the both of them head-butted each other.

"Argh! Now, Phase 2!" Ruffnut said and the both of them grinned again.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Phew! That was quite long!

**Read and Review!**


	3. Chapter 2: White Queen

**Author's Note: **Thank you guys for reviewing and giving such positive feedbacks! I really appreciate it! It made me feel giddy to receive them!

ONE MORE THING! I received a critique that made me realize something…I kind of info dump too much. Kind of forcing you guys to read a history book before allowing you to read a novel or comic. Because of that I've done a major edit to this chapter and perhaps, to the previous ones too if required.

**EDIT: **Previously, this chapter tells the problems that Elsa and Hiccup faced by sort of inner monologue and I realized that it sounded boring to read. So I revamped it to make it more interesting...I hope. Unfortunately, it became longer so I have to split Elsa and Hiccup's side.

**Flashback Format: When you see this symbol ...~... it is the start of long flashback and the next **...~... is the end of that particular flashback. Italics outside those symbols are for short flashbacks.****

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2 - White Queen<strong>

To Elsa, the sky was a wonderful and magical thing. Why wouldn't it? Countless civilizations and religions all viewed the sky as the place where the divine or gods came from.

During the day, it brought the Sun and with it, life and energy to everything that it touches. Animals would wake to hunt and humans would go out to work to earn their living. And during the night, the sky brought out the darkness so that living things could rest. Animals would rest and sleep and humans would bond with their family and friends before sleep claim them.

Elsa favoured and loved the night more than day. It was so beautiful during the night, where countless brethren of the Sun would come out along with the Moon to shine the light during the dark. During that time, the stars would make funny patterns which Elsa learned, were connected and have their own names. The Moon also would have its own patterns on different nights.

Night time was also the time when her parents, especially her father, would devote their time and attention to Elsa and Anna.

But, the night sky she was seeing was unnatural; a mockery of the night sky she loved and adore.

That night, it was filled with terrible noises. She could hear the roar of animals that she never heard of and the sound of her people screaming in fear and pain. The sky was filled with countless creatures that were large enough to block light from the stars and the moon.

And there was fire.

The sky was filled with fire spewed from the creatures. The buildings, roads, ships and even her people was on fire! The kingdom of her family, her kingdom was burning to the ground!

She could see her soldiers and guards tried in vain to stop the fires and the _creatures _that breathe it. She saw a man swooped to the sky and dropped to the ground while screaming to his death. She saw a man swallowed and she saw _someone _who was so badly burned; she couldn't tell if it was a she, or he.

Her people screamed for her help and she wanted to.

But then she heard a loud screeching noise. She tried to find the source, but she couldn't! And then, she saw a flash of purple bolt before it struck the ground in front of her, knocking her away.

She tried to get up but it was hard as she was still disoriented. A guard helped her to her feet and told her to take shelter in the castle, where it was safer. She wanted to say no, and wanted to help but her body disobeyed her and she ran towards the castle.

She reached her throne room where a group of soldier waited for her. They told her to stay at the throne as they form the last line of defence against the invaders.

They waited. And then what seemed like an eternity, a figure approached.

Elsa couldn't see the man's face as it was covered in a helmet that shaped like a dragon. The man's huge body was muscled and covered in leather armor. His left shoulder has a snow leopard's head and its fur was fashioned into a cape. She could see that he was dragging a long two handed sword that was _flaming_.

Her soldiers rushed to repel the intruder and the man roared. They were taken aback by it and the man took the opportunity first.

Elsa could only see in horror as the man faced her soldiers, dodging their attacks and returning them fatally. The fight ended in less than a minute.

The man then turned his attention towards her and his fiery gaze was melting her resolve. She conjured ice but it turned to steam against him. He let out a booming laugh as he walked towards her. His walk was confident and powerful. It was the walk of a king, the walk of a man that would own everything if he wishes it.

This was the man that conquered dragons.

"Your kingdom is mine_,_" his voice was deep and confident and Elsa backed away until she stumbled and fell to her throne.

This was the man that conquered and unified the Vikings; warriors that faced dragons and didn't back away from them for more than seven generations.

The man stabbed his sword on the floor before nearing her. His hand touched her cheek and she felt as if she was on fire; a feat that she thought was impossible. "And so are you,"

The Snow Queen was powerless to do anything but to only ask a question, "Why?"

"Because you refused me. And I always…get whatever I want," the man said.

This was the man that conquered her kingdom.

**…**

Elsa woke up with a start and let out a short scream. It took a moment and a frantic scan of her surrounding that she realized that it was just a nightmare. She then calmed herself down and realized that it was still dark. That and she had frozen her room.

With a sigh, she thawed her room and took a look at her window. The night sky was full of stars along with the Moon and it was quiet, just the way it was supposed to be.

Elsa then turned her attention to her left and found the book that chronicled the Viking King's tale of his early years. The book was opened at the page that showed Hiccup getting ready to capture the Night Fury.

Elsa hugged her knees while giving the book a glare that froze it, as if it would solve her problem. At least she could hope, right?

Elsa then sighed and turned her attention away from the frozen book. She was facing quite a problem, namely her recently and mysterious suitor; the Viking King and his dragons.

Well, to be honest, the Viking King himself was a little cause of concern, but it was the dragons that had worried her and her council.

She then remembered the meeting she had with her council the night before.

**...~...**

_"Gentlemen, I thank you all for coming to the meeting tonight," Elsa said to the people that made her kingdom's council including Anna. Elsa wanted her to be involved in the kingdom's ruling as much as possible to prepare her in case something happened to Elsa._

_They nodded before Elsa resumed. "Yesterday, I received another marriage proposal. Now, this usually wasn't a cause of much concern to the kingdom as I've received quite a number of them from various kingdoms. However, the latest marriage proposal I received is from the Viking King from the Kingdom of Berk,"_

_"Usually, I could choose to refuse the other marriage proposals without affecting the relationship with their kingdom and ours. However, I'm afraid that if I refuse the Viking King, he might wage war on Arendelle," Elsa finished and silence took over the room for a moment._

_"But Your Majesty, surely they wouldn't do that, just because you refuse?" Hugo Johannes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs asked. He was a short brunette in his early thirties, has black eyes and wore a brown formal suit with matching pants._

_"They might," Finn Gerhad, Arendelle's Minister of Finance said. He was a blonde middle aged man with black eyes and a thick mustache. He wore a white suit with matching pants and gloves and currently, he was busy wiping his glasses._

_"Our Queen doesn't make baseless assumptions. Before this, much of the encounters with the Vikings were not friendly. They're like the Mongol savages. Besides, what would you expect from them? They usually use force to get what they want. I'm surprised that they even bother with the marriage proposal at all," Finn said._

_Elsa knew about the Mongolian Empire. It was the largest land empire known to mankind and they didn't achieve it using peaceful means._

_"Savages? How would you know? That was in the past! From what we know, they could have changed!" Hugo said._

_"Really now? Have you seen the way they speak to Our Queen? Only savages didn't know their manners when meeting a person of utmost importance," Finn said with a sly smile._

_"Different cultures have different ways. They might not be accustomed to ours!" Hugo countered._

_"Gentlemen, please, calm down," Elsa said and the council was silent. Elsa sighed. "I don't mind about the way they speak to me that day. I understand if they didn't know about our ways. Despite that, I do not think them as savages,"_

_Elsa eyed Finn until he reluctantly caved in._

_"I apologize, I won't refer them as such again" Finn said._

_"Good," Elsa said and Hugo looked triumphant. "That said, we still do not know what the outcome would be. All we can do is prepare for the worst, and hope for the best,"_

_"That's true," a man said. The man was a middle aged with blue eyes, black flattop hair along with well-kept goatee and a mustache. He was wearing the ceremonial military uniform decorated with the highest ranking badges Arendelle could give to her people. His name was Frederik Havar, general of Arendelle's military force and long-time friend to her father. He was the closest thing to an uncle for the royal sisters._

_"The war is indeed a big IF. One of the reasons that they even bother with the marriage proposal instead of invading us, is that they might be recovering from their unification campaign," Frederik said._

_"Regardless, it is important to be prepared. When a kingdom increases its army, we have to be prepared regardless of their intention. After all, intentions can change overnight. Furthermore; it's not unusual for a stronger nation to take advantage of weaker ones. It certainly happened before. This is one of the outcomes that we fear might happen," Frederik continued. "And that is the agenda of this meeting tonight,"_

_Elsa nodded. "That is true. General, please continue,"_

_"Unfortunately, we are facing what could be Arendelle's greatest foe, or perhaps the entire world. We all know the story of the Mongol Empire, like Finn reminded us," Frederik said and glanced at Finn before resuming. "They managed to build the largest empire in the history of mankind and that's only with horses. Now imagine, what would happen if the Mongols have access to dragons back then?"_

_The council was silent again._

_"This could happen, should the Vikings choose to follow the history of the Mongol Empire, except that they will have much greater success," Frederik said._

_"As far as I know, all the dragons can fly and that means air superiority. Furthermore, from their description, each dragon species is essentially a weapon. We are talking about an advantage so unfair that you can call it as cheating if war is a game," Frederick said. "It would be like fighting against a steel armoured enemy while our army only has wooden swords,"_

_The council members started to look worried at this._

_"Oceans and large bodies of water can be traversed easily without the use of boats or ships. Obstacles and terrains meant for slowing ground forces are useless. Defenses are also useless as they can just fly high up and drop rocks at us like some sick punishment from god," Frederick said._

_"Don't you think that you put too much credit to these creatures? They're not invincible. What happened to the Mountain Dragons was proof to that," Finn said._

_"That is just a single type of dragon, and to be honest, that dragon is tame compared to what the dragons the Vikings faced on a daily basis," Frederik said._

_He then moved to a tripod that was holding a map that showed the region of Arendelle and its closest neighbors. "Now, Unfortunately for Arendelle, she is the nearest kingdom to the Vikings, and thus, its neighbor,"_

_"The Viking Kingdom is located to the north of Arendelle," Frederik showed the location of where the Viking Kingdom was. It was still quite far from Arendelle and would take a few days by ship to reach them. Furthermore, the region was covered in clouds._

_Elsa knew what the clouds meant. It was uncharted area._

_"So far, the place is uncharted. To my knowledge, no one has managed to travel there and return alive," Frederik explained. "The Vikings said that Berk is located in the Meridian of Misery, correct? Well, it turns out that name was appropriate along with others like Niflheim, Sea of Monsters and so on," Frederik continued._

_"The traders and sailors refused to go to anywhere near that area. Lots of supernatural stuff I heard," Frederik said. "They say if you sail there, the sky is clear. But once you get farther in, suddenly, out of nowhere a fog appears. Then, you will hear noises and something will hit your ship. That was your cue to get out of there. If you pressed on, then the monsters comes out,"_

_"Monsters?" Anna looked horrified._

_"Yes. Years ago, sailors found a pirate ship floating aimlessly at the sea. Almost everyone on board was scalded to death," Frederik said calmly. "A survivor said that a large winged creature flew from the sea and spit boiling water at them,"_

_"Dragons…" Elsa said._

_Frederik only nodded before continuing. "And that's not the worse yet. Have you heard of what happened to the pirate Blood Beard?"_

_Elsa and Anna nodded but a council member shook his head._

_"Blood Beard was a pirate famous for dunking his beard in his victim's blood," Frederik explained and Anna looked horrified. "He was also a slaver, murderer, and rapist; in short, one of the vilest man to ever grace the world. He wasn't just a pirate too, but a pirate lord. He was one of the most successful pirates as he has twenty ships under his command,"_

_"6 months ago, he decided to conquer the Sea of Monsters with his whole fleet. He decided to do it during the night, thinking that maybe the monsters were asleep," Frederik shook his head. "It was a foolish move. All he heard of was loud screeching sounds in the air, similar to what the Viking emissaries described before his fleet was hit by flashes of purple and exploded. His entire fleet was disabled in less than 5 minutes before the fog consumed them,"_

_Elsa's eyes widened as she heard the description. 'Night Fury…but it seems like they have more of them…'_

_The whole council was silent. They were familiar with the story since some of the remains, including survivors of the pirate lord's fleet have washed to Arendelle's shore._

_"To sum it up," Frederik continue. "It seems that there are many types of dragons, including aquatic ones. This means, they not only have air superiority, but naval as well. Furthermore, there is also a dragon that can dig tunnels underground. That means they can just sink this whole castle if they want to,"_

_"Great, so the Vikings come from a monstrous place and managed to tame the monsters there. Wonderful, just wonderful!" Hugo shook his head sadly._

_Finn looked annoyed at this. "So? They have dragons, but Our Queen controls ice, surely they would think twice about attacking us,"_

_"No, if anything, it would motivate them more," Hugo said, much to Finn's chagrin. "Acquiring Arendelle is the most logical thing if they want to set up forward base for expansion and Queen Elsa, because of her power, is the icing on the cake. Please forgive me, My Queen," Hugo said to Elsa._

_"I am not offended, Hugo. I understand," Elsa smiled and Hugo returned the smile._

_"Hugo is right," Frederick continued. "Queen Elsa's power is just as cheating as the dragons are when in war,"_

_"When your father decided to…isolate you and keep your powers hidden from the public, he did it not only to protect Arendelle and the others from…you…at that time -" Frederik said with a sad look on his serious face. Anna also looked sad but Elsa gave Frederik a reassuring smile that she was fine with it._

_Frederik's face steeled again before continuing. "- he also did it to protect you, Your Majesty. If word had spread out that a girl with the powers to control ice, you can bet that everybody will be interested in getting you, Your Majesty. Hell – pardon my words – if I didn't belong to Arendelle, I would tell my king to get you by any means necessary,"_

_The council understood what Frederik meant. It was the reason why there were so many marriage proposals for Elsa and not Anna._

_"But of course, that was then. Now, you're in control of your powers and trying to get you by force would be very hard," Frederik said. "Unfortunately, the Vikings might have the force to do so,"_

_"Have you forgotten something? Have you forgotten how powerful Our Queen is? She could freeze the dragons before they could reach here!" Finn said._

_"That is true. But Our Queen is not as powerful as you think she is. Forgive me, My Queen," Frederick said._

_Elsa smiled. "No need to apologize, I know my own strength and weaknesses,"_

_"The Queen's power is like a sword," Frederik said and pulled out his sword. "With it, she is powerful," Frederik then placed the sword on the table. "Without it, she is weak,"_

_Elsa smiled sadly. "That is true, without my power, I'm just a girl with a kingdom on her shoulders. There is a possibility that my power could fail me,"_

_"And even with her power, Our Queen still bleeds like any of us do. Much like a game of chess, the Queen piece can be taken down by a single misstep," Frederik said._

_"Way to make things seem hopeless," Finn said and crossed his arms._

_"I'm just stating the facts. This is my first time facing such enemy. If you tell me that the Mongol Empire is knocking on our doors, I will tell you with confidence that we will drive away the Mongols and that Arendelle's sovereignty will be preserved," Frederik replied. "But, against such an unfair enemy?"_

_"What about our allies? Would they come to our defense?" Elsa asked._

_"If we can convince that the Vikings are a threat that cannot be faced alone, then yes," Frederik said and Elsa's worry was lessened a bit._

_"But that is a big IF, yes?" Elsa said and Frederik smiled sadly._

_"Yes,"_

_Frederik sighed and ran his hand over his hair. "So then that means we have to suck it up to them for the moment,"_

_Elsa nodded slowly. "That is true,"_

_"Wait, so we're just going to cave in to their demands?" Finn said with angry look. "We're just going to let Arendelle be assimilated into the Viking Kingdom?"_

_"Would you prefer war on our heads?" Hugo answered. "And Arendelle won't necessarily be assimilated into their kingdom should Our Queen accepts the marriage. Princess Anna will become the next queen and our sovereignty will still be intact. If anything, we will be allies with them at best,"_

_"But that's the thing, if they really want to expand; it doesn't make sense for them even bother with the marriage at all," Hugo said. "All I'm saying is that we might have overthink a situation that might not even happen!"_

_Hugo looked at Elsa sadly._

_"Your Majesty, I understand the problem that you're facing. One of the reasons why you haven't accepted any suitors is because of personal preference," Hugo said and Elsa suddenly found that her hands are more interesting. Anna could only gave her sister a sad look._

_"And you think that the marriage proposal from the Viking King is finally forcing you to choose," Hugo continued. "But, please believe me when I say that nobody in this kingdom will blame you if you refuse,"_

_"Even if it leads to war?" Elsa said sadly and turned her gaze to Hugo._

_"Forgive me Your Majesty, but you don't know that! You are letting fear clouding your judgment! Fear of the dragons and fear of the Vikings' supposedly savage nature! We are assuming too much based on the actions of a few from the past and a single meeting from their emissaries! For all we know, the Vikings might be different than what we thought," Hugo said._

_"All I'm saying is that there might be another way that can benefit all," Hugo continued. "We can try to negotiate for a different outcome like-"_

_"Princess Anna instead of Our Queen," Finn cut in and Elsa glared at him._

_Anna looked at her hands guiltily._

_"The Viking King asks for my hand in marriage, not my sister's," Elsa said coldly and the temperature of the room began to drop. Anna grasped and squeezed Elsa's hand to calm her down. Finn looked scared and hastily apologized before the temperature returned to normal_

_"Regardless, you are right Minister Hugo; I may have overthink this situation," Elsa said._

_Hugo nodded. "Please Your Majesty, don't worry for the moment. Until we meet the Viking King himself and hear his decision, then we worry at that time,"_

_Elsa nodded with a smile._

_Even so, she couldn't help but to feel worry._

_**...~...**_

How could she not? It was the first time that she ever encountered someone that could do whatever he wanted without much concern.

Elsa sighed and turned to look at the book again. She then unfroze it and saw the image of the young Hiccup.

"All these worrying are because of your dragons and not knowing what kind of person you are. What will you do should I refuse you, I wonder? If you didn't have those dragons, then things will be much simpler, no?" Elsa said and traced the image of Hiccup and unknowingly smiled a little.

"I wonder…what kind of person are you, Hiccup?"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Right, so uh, I hope you guys liked the hopefully improved version!

**Read and Review Readers!**


	4. Chapter 3: Black King

**Author's Note: **This chapter was originally part of chapter 2, but it was too long and kinda boring so I have to revamp it to make it more interesting. For those that have been following this story and were disappointed, thinking that this chapter will be a new chapter, I'm so sorry. It's just that I felt that it needed to be done.

I suggest reading this chapter, and previous chapter again as new elements were added.

Alright, so I'm sure that you've read too much about Arendelle by now, so here comes the Vikings side!

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 3 - Black King<strong>

8 years ago, Berk was, to put it mildly, a simple Viking village on an island. Well, according to the Vikings that lived there anyway. Foreigners would think that Berk was anything but simple, what with dragon sieges, dragon arena and new houses for an old village.

Dragons…to most of the world, they were fabled creatures of myths and legends. Regarded as powerful creatures, certain cultures viewed them as malevolent creatures of destruction and death while some viewed them in a more positive light.

To the Vikings, both are true; after all, they knew better than the rest of the world when it comes to dragons.

Years ago, the sight of dragons in the air was a cause of concern and alarm. Now, they were as normal as birds flying in the sky. Dragons ridden by Vikings filled the air of Berk, and they often carry food and products from other villages to trade.

Berk today was no longer a simple village any more as it has become the capital for the Viking Kingdom of Berk. It has a lot more buildings (most of them are made of stones now), including a larger port, academies, and lots of people as well as dragons.

In other words, Berk has become a busy place compared to what it was years ago.

So of course, in a busy place that was also quite a weird place (because of dragons and the behaviours of certain Vikings), it could be forgiven if the people didn't notice (or maybe they were accustomed to it) weird moments that happened from time to time.

"You know, I remember a time when you would fight a dragon that so much as _hugged_ me, let alone handle me like this," Hiccup, the Viking King of the Kingdom of Berk said to a black dragon that was looking at him with a tilted head. "What happen to that dragon?"

Currently, Hiccup was suspended in mid-air in front of his house because of an orange Monstrous Nightmare that was biting his shirt. Toothless the Night Fury and his _loyal _dragon laughed at him and Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Hiccup? What are you doing up there?" a voice said and the Monstrous Nightmare turned to look at the source, conveniently showing Hiccup who it was.

"Eh, you know, just thinking of a new trend on how to be king," Hiccup shrugged. "I could just do my job like this all day long,"

"U-huh," the voice belonged to one of his childhood friend, Fishlegss Ingerman. "So how is it working for you?"

"Great actually! I don't have to walk so that's a plus," Hiccup said.

"Riiiight…" Fishlegss said with a smile and shook his head. He was about to say something when another voice cut in.

"Hiccup? What are you doing?" a familiar voice said. The dragon then turned to look at the voice again.

"Oh hey Gobber. Just trying out a new way to be kingly and all that," Hiccup waved at one of his long-time friend and mentor. Gobber the Belch was pushing a cart full of equipment, and his trusty sheep, Phil was beside him, munching on the grass.

Gobber gave him a weird look. "Are you trying to be condescending? I know you're the king now, but I never thought that it would get to your head,"

Hiccup rolled his eyes in response. "No Gobber, somebody's dragon just swoops in and decided to pick me up like this,"

"Oh," Gobber said and scratched his head. "Carry on!" He was about to leave when Hiccup called him.

"Gobber! Do you know where the twins are?" Hiccup asked.

"No, why?" Gobber replied.

"Well, I haven't heard from them in almost two weeks now," Hiccup said worriedly.

"Maybe you sent them on a job?" Fishlegss said and the Monstrous Nightmare holding Hiccup turned to look at him.

"No, I didn't," Hiccup replied.

"They'll be fine, no need to worry your skivvies off!" Gobber added and the dragon turned to look at him now.

"Yeah, I'm sure they're ok, probably partying with the tribe chiefs again," Fishlegs said and the dragon turned to look at him again. Hiccup sighed at this.

Toothless only watched the interaction with amused expression.

"Hey," Gobber said and the dragon faced him. "What do you know! This way of yours is kinda neat after all,"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Yeah, about the twins, I'm really worried about them. Remember the last time they went missing for a week?"

"Oh yeah, they went and set up an arranged marriage between you and Asleif from the Bone Breaker tribe," Fishlegs said and the dragon turned to him again.

Remembering that moment, Gobber laughed, drawing the attention of the dragon to him, causing it to tilt its head in confusion. "Oooh, yes! I remember that! So you're afraid they might be doing something like that again?"

"Yeah," Hiccup simply replied and scratched the dragon's jaw to keep it from turning its head every time Gobber or Fishlegss speak. The monstrous Nightmare then had a look of content on its face.

"Oh well, when it happens it happens," Fishlegs shrugged and quickly looked away. Hiccup gave him a weird look. "You have an issue right now and this is from the tribe chiefs,"

"Let me guess," Hiccup rolled his eyes. "It's about the name of our kingdom again isn't it?"

Fishlegs looked sheepish. "Yeea,"

"Well what's wrong with Berk?" Gobber said, looking a bit angry. Well, you can't fault him for being patriotic about his birthplace after all.

"They said it sounds like burp," Fishlegs answered and Gobber rolled his eyes.

"Compared to the names they suggested, Berk sounds tame. Do you have their name suggestions?" Hiccup said.

"Yeah," Fishlegs said and took out a list. "Let's see…we got Moon's Blood,"

"That…sounded like a woman's monthly problem," Hiccup said.

"Well, you refused Blood Moon last time," Gobber added.

"Next we got Asgard,"

"Won't the gods smite us for that?" Gobber said.

"Midgard,"

"Uhh, the whole world is Midgard. Wouldn't it be redundant?" Gobber said again.

"Niflheim,"

"They're kinda asking for it, don't they?" Gobber rolled his eyes.

"Although it kinda fits," Hiccup added.

"Ragnarok!"

"The Twilight of the Gods? Have they lost their minds?" Gobber rubbed his temples.

"It sounds cool," Hiccup shrugged and Fishlegss nodded enthusiastically. Gobber could only roll his eyes.

"Okay, moving on. Next we have Monkey Island,"

"I'm sure we know who gave that idea," Gobber rolled his eyes.

"Monkey Fist,"

"Same guy," Gobber said. "Where did you found that guy anyway?"

"He found us," Hiccup shrugged.

"Uhh…Land of Frost and Dragons,"

"That's quite a mouthful," Gobber said.

"Oh wait, it says here that it can be shortened to LOFAD?" Fishlegs added.

"And I'm sure in the future that name will be a wonderful target for jokes," Hiccup said.

"And finally, Vikings-Come-and-Conquer?"

"And now they've abandon all sense of naming," Hiccup said with a sigh. "It seems like our horrible naming sense will continue for a while after all,"

"Eh, could have been worse. At least it was an improvement from last time where they only suggested their own names," Gobber shrugged.

"True. Oh well, Fishlegss, as usual, tell the chiefs that we need more name suggestions. At least that will distract them from this issue for a while," Hiccup said.

"Sure thing Hiccup!" Fishlegss mocked saluted with a smile. "So…are you going to get down or what?"

Hiccup rolled his eyes when a young boy appeared in front of Hiccup.

"King Hiccup!" the boy said excitedly. The dragon, having heard of the boy's voice, turned to look at him and dropped Hiccup in front of him as if it was a gift. However, years of experience allowed Hiccup to land on his feet gracefully.

"Oh hey Hrolf! This is your dragon I take it?" Hiccup said to the boy. Hrolf had a mop of black hair which was typically covered by the horned helmet that most Vikings wear and black eyes. He has freckles covering his cheeks and he wore a green shirt with a fur vest and brown pants. If anything, he looked like Gustav during his early years.

"Oh yes! I've managed to train Pyre to safely pick people up! I wanted to show it to you but I kind of forget to tell him to bring you to me," Hrolf said with a sheepish look.

"No, don't worry, no physical harm done," Hiccup said with a smile and patted the boy's helmet. "You did a wonderful job. Keep it up!"

Hrolf's smiled was ear-splitting as he nodded furiously. "Thank you! I will!" Hrolf said as he ran towards his dragon.

Hiccup and Gobber watched as Hrolf mounted Pyre before flying away.

"Look at him, all wide-eyed and idealistic. Just like you. That's what you're trying to achieve, right?" Gobber nudged Hiccup.

"Yeah," Hiccup simply said with a smile. "Now all we need is a thousand more like him and my plan will be complete,"

Fishlegs gave Hiccup a nervous look.

"Urgh, just one of you is a pain the ass enough," Gobber rolled his eyes and started to walk away and Phil the sheep followed him. "Anyway, got lots to do!"

"Sure. Say hi to dad if you see him, will you?" Hiccup said at the retreating figure of Gobber. All he got was a wave before he disappeared into the village.

Some Vikings caught his eye and they waved at him. Hiccup waved back with a smile before turning around to head back into his house (which was larger and made from stone).

"Come on Fishlegs, we'll talk more inside the house," Hiccup said and Fishlegs nodded. Toothless nudged his back to make him move faster.

"I'm going! Geez!" Fishlegs said playfully. "What am I, your prisoner or something?"

Toothless gave him a smile before nudging him again.

Hiccup immediately went to the kitchen to prepare drinks and some food for Fishlegs. Meanwhile, Fishlegs and Toothless made themselves comfortable at the dining room. However, Fishlegs noticed something on the table; a plate of fruits.

After a while, Hiccup appeared from the kitchen carrying drinks and some snacks.

"I see you enjoyed your appetizer," Hiccup said, noticing the empty plate of fruits.

"Sorry, all this hard work made me hungry," Fishlegs said sheepishly as Hiccup put down the food.

"No, no worries, I got you the main course, though it's not much," Hiccup sarcastically said.

"Ooh!" Fishlegs said with delight as he reached out for his food. "I hope there are desserts!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes. While waiting for Fishlegs to finished eating, he decided to keep himself busy by for a book among the heap of books and papers that Fishlegs had placed on the table.

Hiccup smiled as he ran his hand on the cover of the book.

'The Tale of The Dragon Conqueror'

Hiccup shook his head at the title. He never liked the title but Vikings like to exaggerate things to make them more epic that it actually was. That and everyone agreed that the Vikings are more likely to follow a dragon 'conqueror' than 'trainer'.

He didn't have much say in the matter but at least it was more believable than Dragonborn. How did they came up with that name, he didn't know. He guessed that was what you get when drunken mischievous Viking twins were tasked to tell the story.

Hell, they even wanted to change the Red Death's name to Alduin! He didn't know what the name meant but all he got from the Viking twins were; destroyer, devour and master.

He got to give it to the twins; they can be really creative.

Hiccup turned the pages of the book and sighed. The book wasn't entirely accurate as some parts were not included such as his rather romantic first flight with Astrid. But he knew that it would complicate the story and...it was a private memory after all. He didn't want everyone to know about it.

As Hiccup turned more of the pages, the feeling of nostalgia caught up to him.

When he was little, all he wanted was to be a proper Viking like everyone else. After that, Hiccup would then be a great Chief just like his dad and make him proud.

Hiccup chuckled at the thought. Fishlegss and Toothless gave him a weird look.

Life worked in funny ways at times. That was what happened to him.

Now, the definition of Viking certainly has changed and was shaped by him and he hoped he could shape it well. Today, he wasn't just a Chief to his village, but to everyone that called themselves Viking. He didn't just lead a tribe now but a whole kingdom!

It would be a lie to say that he didn't feel _a bit _proud of his achievements.

But, not everything was perfect. Although his kingdom was peaceful, there are a lot of problems that needed to be addressed soon.

Hiccup noticed Fishlegs has finished with his food and Hiccup put the book away.

"So, let's hear the progress reports,"

"Oh, yes!" Fishlegs said and dusted his hands before taking a report and cleared his throat.

"Well, repairs to the damage caused by the unification campaign are going well without too much problem. Most of the tribes are receptive to the dragons, but…" Fishlegs glanced at Hiccup.

"Some of the tribes are quite _annoyed _that they have to give a lot of food to the dragons. They said that they couldn't afford it because they're still recovering from the campaign," Fishlegs said.

And here comes the first problem; food. Before the Vikings were unified, food was more or less not a problem to each tribe. Back then when they were still fighting the dragons, they didn't have to share their food with them. Now? A dragon can eat more than the largest Viking. And if they had food shortage, they could just raid nearby tribes for their food and resources. Today you can't do that, of course.

It didn't help that the Viking kingdom was compromised mainly of islands and not large landmasses like other kingdoms have. They didn't have much space for farming and livestock. Because of this, the Vikings depended much on fishing for their food but again, a dragon could eat a large portion of a Viking's daily catch, leaving little for them.

Hiccup drummed his fingers on the table. Berk had no problem feeding its population and dragons, but a lot of other parts of his kingdom weren't so fortunate.

"Well, most of the Vikings really need to eat less if they want to ride dragons comfortably," Hiccup chuckled and Fishlegs pouted. Hiccup realised this and rubbed his neck.

"Right, moving on. Next," Hiccup said and Fishlegs nodded before continuing.

"About education…most of the tribes weren't very receptive," Fishlegs said and Hiccup sighed.

Now came the second problem; the Viking's education system. During his travels, Hiccup had found out that the Vikings were seriously far behind in education and scientific advancements than the other kingdoms. It was such a shock to Hiccup to find out how other kingdoms, especially civilizations, treat people like…him. Other kingdoms accepted and nurtured people with special talents whereas the Vikings (at least before Hiccup made a difference) treated _hiccups _like him as a black sheep.

Well to be fair, it wasn't that the Vikings rejected special talents completely. There were brainy Vikings like Fishlegss and Gobber after all. It was just that…Hiccup was a wee bit different than the rest.

Suffice to say, the Vikings were seriously far behind in terms of scientific advancements.

Heck, if it weren't for the dragons, the Vikings would have serious problems if facing against an attack from the other advanced kingdoms. What was more; the dragons were not the ultimate weapon that some people thought they were.

To put it in perspective; the Vikings warred against the dragons for more than three centuries and it ended with the both of them becoming allies. Other civilizations drove them into extinction so fast that they become myths and legends in less than a decade. Well, to be fair, those dragons lived on large landmasses that made it easy to hunt them whereas the dragons here have the safety of the ocean.

What was more, it turns out that the reason the Vikings sailed to this dragon infested region in the first place was because of the same reason the dragons did; they were driven off by other civilizations and having no place to go, they choose to come here.

It was lucky that Vikings have stubbornness issues.

"Let me guess, the ones giving problems are the adults, correct?" Hiccup asked and Fishlegs nodded.

"The younger generations looked up to you," Fishlegs said.

"Good, the children are more important anyway. Hopefully the adults will soon change their minds," Hiccup said and sighed again.

As usual, it was the adults that are most resistant to change. Well, he couldn't blame them. After all, they've been living their own way of life until Hiccup just came in, made a mess and wanted to implement changes in such a short period of time.

But he needed to do this for the sake of everyone. Change is nature and they have to adapt to those changes if they want to survive and thrive. It was how the world works.

"So, Hiccup, what are you going to do?"

The truth was that he already knew the solution; peaceful contact with other civilizations. And although it might sound tempting and easier, Hiccup will not resort to war to get what he wanted. The best solution was to open the Viking Kingdom for trade with the other kingdoms.

But then that would mean revealing the existence of dragons. This region was (to his knowledge) the last safe haven for dragons. There was the possibility that other kingdoms would want the dragons for themselves. And if they couldn't get it peacefully, they would get it by other means.

Hiccup had faced that scenario many times before and that's coming from the Vikings themselves!

A Viking's way of living back then was to kill dragons and now, they live with them. To be the King of Vikings meant that you not only have to do what was best for the Vikings but for the dragons as well.

He couldn't let anything befall the Vikings and the dragons. They were his responsibility and his life.

Toothless nudged him and broke Hiccup out of his deep thought. He unconsciously rubbed his temple and that must have worried his partner.

"Did I worry you bud?" Hiccup said with a smile and scratched Toothless. "Sorry, got a lot to think about,"

Hiccup sighed. "If only Astrid was here. She'd punch me some sense into me," Fishlegs gave him a worried look.

Toothless moaned at him and Hiccup smiled sadly. "What about you bud? When are you going to get yourself a nice Night Fury girl, huh? You're not exactly the 'rarest' around here anymore, you know,"

Toothless narrowed his eyes at him as if saying 'not until you get a girl first!'

Hiccup smiled at his companion's unwavering loyalty. "Thanks bud. What would I do without you?"

Toothless smiled at him in response.

Hiccup sighed. "We just have to persevere for a while. It takes a while to accept and adapt to changes after all,"

Fishlegs looked hesitant to speak before he mustered the courage to do so. "The food won't be much of a problem. But the education system takes a long time to bear result. You can't change it willy-nilly, we need to have a strong foundation,"

"And right now we lack it. I know," Hiccup said sadly. The people that knew him called him a genius, but he wasn't a genius in everything. There was only so much he can provide on certain fields of knowledge. For the rest he was going to need outside help or set back the Viking years of progress trying to learn things that other civilizations have already discovered.

Hiccup sighed again and ran his hand over his hair.

"Geez! Where are the twins? I hope they're not into some kind of trouble or something," Hiccup said and Fishlegs fidgeted in his seat. He really hoped the twins were not in any kind of trouble; he didn't need any more problems on his plate.

"Are you sure you haven't seen the twins?" Hiccup asked Fishlegs who looked away, guiltily.

"Nope! Haven't seen them at all! I was so busy you know, there was not even time to play with Meatlug!" Fishlegs answered.

"Oh really? Even though I saw you did just that a few days ago?"

Fishlegs chuckled nervously. Luckily for him, he was saved by the very twins that they were discussing about.

The door to Hiccup's house burst open and the Viking twins in question came in. They looked around frantically until they found their target; Hiccup.

"Hiccup! HICCCUPP!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut screamed and ran at Hiccup, hugged his legs and started to cry like children that got caught doing something very terrible.

"Woah woah woah! What's gotten into you guys?" Hiccup asked and his hands up in the air, not knowing where to put them.

"WE'RE SORRY! WE DIDN'T MEAN TO DO IT!" Ruffnut wailed.

"Do what? Don't tell me you arrange me into another marriage?" Hiccup said, not knowing whether to get mad or not at them.

"NO! IT'S WORSE THAN THAT!" Tuffnut screamed and Hiccup could feel the stare of people looking at them.

"Alright, alright! Calm down. Tell me what happen or to be precise, what did you guys do?" Hiccup said and place his hands on the twin's helmet and patted them.

"We…we…we" Tuffnut said through his sobbing. "We might have…caused a war with another kingdom,"

"…." Hiccup was silent as he looked at them with blank faces and Toothless *gasped*, well it sounded like a gasp anyway.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked at each other before looking back at Hiccup.

"Hic-hiccup?" Ruffnut shook Hiccup softly.

"YOU WHAT?"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Kudos to reader Comet Moon for his/her name idea for Bifrost! It sounds nice and kind of fitting! It might be used in the future, so keep an eye for it!

**Read and Review!**


	5. Chapter 4: The Vikings That Cried Wolf

**Author's Note: **Alright, new chapter! The Viking shenanigans continues!

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 4 – <strong>**The Vikings That Cried Wolf**

_**...~...**_

"_This is crazy! Do you know what will happen if it fails?" Fishlegs said nervously._

"_Ssshhhh, babe, don't curse it!" Ruffnut put a finger on his lips with a sly smile and Fishlegs immediately went red._

"_Come on!" a grinning Tuffnut went to Fishleg's side and wrapped his arm around Fishleg's neck. "Because it's crazy that it has to work!"_

"_But, but, but…Hiccup wouldn't approve of this!" Fishlegs fidgeted._

"_At times like this babe, we shouldn't be thinking of 'What-Would-Hiccup-Do'," Ruffnut said and went to his other side and wrapped her own arm around his neck._

"_Yeah, instead. We should be thinking…"Tuffnut said and the twins slapped their hands in front of Fishlegs' face. "'What-Wouldn't-Hiccup-Do?'" _

_The twins then slowly released their hands and gestured to something in the air in front of Fishlegs. Fishlegs could have sworn he saw a rainbow between the twin's hands. _

_But then it could have been dust._

"_Uuuhh…" Fishlegs wasn't entirely convinced._

"_I'll do that *fantasy* you've always wanted me to do," Ruffnut said to Fishlegs' ears and he immediately went red._

"_Ew, ew, ew!" Tuffnut immediately released himself from the two. "I do NOT need to hear that! Get a room!"_

"_Oh we will, right, honeybun~~" Ruffnut whispered seductively and Fishlegs furiously nodded. Tuffnut rolled his eyes._

"_Uhm, okay, so the objective of your plan is to get Hiccup to go to a foreign kingdom and hopefully, change his mind about his closed doors policy. But how are you going to do that exactly? I don't think he will ever step outside of the kingdom," Fishlegs asked and the twins grinned._

"_Simple…we cry wolf,"_

__**...~...**__

Fishlegs fidgeted in his seat as he remembered the conversation he had with the twins before they went 'missing'. He was lucky that he wasn't the one that would be questioned, or he might spill the beans in an instant!

'Sorry Hiccup!' Fishlegs thought as he watched the silent Hiccup seated in front of the twins.

Meanwhile, Hiccup was trying his best to keep his anger in check, lest he beat the twins with his prosthetic foot. Or maybe he'd stick it up to their asses. It was really tempting at the moment.

"_A strong man is not measured by his physical strength, but by his strength to reign in his anger. For anger is destructive. It will make you think that you are always right and your actions are justified when it is most likely not,"_

Hiccup repeated the words a wise man had told him during one of his travels in his head as he rubbed his temple. The source of his anger, the twins were sitting quite far from him as they waited for him to start. Meanwhile, Toothless placed his head on Hiccup's lap and let out a comforting drone.

Anger was a natural emotion and thus it is unavoidable. It was impossible to never get angry in a person's life.

Well, unless that person was a saint or something.

But Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was not a saint. He was just a normal person like everybody else.

It was just that a lot of people that knew him told that he has the patience of a saint.

While it was true that anger is unavoidable, it is how you manage the anger that makes the difference. And Hiccup has quite an effective anger management program.

But still, even his patience has its limits. And right now, he was close to breaking that limit.

How could he not? All of those hard work and sacrifice...all of it could be destroyed in an instant! What made it worse, he had a gut feeling that it would be his _friends'_ fault!

Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs eyed each other nervously. Nobody liked a super angry person, especially the quiet ones.

And it was always the quiet and kind ones whose anger can be super scary. And Hiccup was one of them.

"So let me get this straight. You've been missing for almost two weeks and when you return, you brought war back to our home?" Hiccup started, still rubbing his temple.

"Ye-yes," Ruffnut meekly said.

"With a foreign kingdom called Arendelle," Tuffnut added.

Hiccup sighed before resuming. "Do you realize what you've done? All of our hard work, our sacrifices…"

Hearing those words, the twins felt really bad. But they expected this, so they steeled themselves.

"We didn't plan to! We swear! It all happened beyond our control!" Ruffnut said.

Hiccup snorted. "Of course it does. I don't know what's worse sometimes; when you plan something or when you don't,"

The twins eyed each other. If only Hiccup knew...

"Well, yeah but…at least hear us out?" Ruffnut said and Hiccup sighed.

Hiccup knew that their explanation would probably be silly, crazy and stupid that would made him question their logic and common sense. Heck, it would make him question his own because he was the one that made them the Viking emissaries after all.

But logic beats anger. And according to logic, the twin's track record as emissaries was quite well…according to Viking standards anyway despite their eccentrics. It could probably be that the twins didn't know about the other kingdom's customs.

If anything, they deserved to present their case. That and as a leader, Hiccup needed to know what happened anyway.

Unfortunately, the anger was still there. What was more, their explanation would likely anger him more if he listened to them now. So a little time out was needed.

"I'm going to take a cold bath and a nap to clear my head. You three, will stay here until I'm finished. _Understand?_" Hiccup said and the three of them nodded furiously until Fishlegs realized something.

The three Vikings waited for a few minutes in silence before they relaxed with a sigh.

"Phew! I thought that he was going to explode!" Fishlegs said as he slumped in his chair.

"Hah! Wait till he hears the truth! Then he'll explode," Ruffnut said with a grin and Fishlegs whined.

Just then, the door burst open again and the three Vikings quickly sat straight.

"So, how is it going?" a voice said and the Vikings relaxed again.

"Oh, it's just you, Gobber," Fishlegs said.

"What, you thought I was Hiccup? So where did he go to? I thought he was going to the forge to take a hammer to beat you two with, but apparently that's not it," Gobber said as he walked towards the twins.

"He's probably going to the cove where he meets Toothless," Fishlegs answered Gobber. "He wants to cool down a bit before talking to Ruff and Tuff again,"

"Yeah, we thought that he'd want this to be done quickly. But I guess we really made him mad," Ruffnut said.

"Ah, good thinking. Anyway, you got what I asked for?" Gobber asked the twins.

"Pfft! What do you take us for? Of course we have it!" Ruffnut answered and pulled out a parcel which Gobber took gleefully.

The way Gobber opened the parcel would make you think of a kid opening his gift. His eyes then widened with a shine as he took out the item; a fabric of purple silk.

"Oooh, that's the stuff," Gobber said as he rubbed the fabric on his face. The other Vikings just gave him a weird look.

"O-kay, so did you do what we asked you to do?" Tuffnut asked.

"Of course, you didn't see Valka coming here do you?" Gobber replied. "I managed to get her out of Berk for a few days. Should be enough time to prevent her from knowing what happened and butting in. Though I'm not sure why you want her out of the way, not like she's interested in Viking politics after all,"

"It's her wrath is what we're afraid of. Anyway, thanks Gobber," Ruffnut said and Gobber waved the silk in front of them.

"Yeah well, for everyone's sake, your plan better work," Gobber said and walked towards the door. "Oh and, if it didn't work…I don't know anything, ya hear?"

Gobber gave them a stern look before closing the door.

"Traitor," Tuffnut crossed his arms with a huff.

"Sooo…how long do you think he's gonna take?" Ruffnut asked and Fishlegs shrugged.

"An hour or two I guess," Fishlegs answered.

"Ugh…I'm hungry," Ruffnut said and her lolled her head back.

"Me too…" Fishlegs added softly.

**…**

"So! Tell me what happened!" Hiccup said with a cheery face and clapped his hands together, startling the other Vikings in the room.

"Uh…" Tuffnut started and gave his sister a weird look. "Are you…alright, Hiccup?"

They expected to face a super angry Hiccup and not a...hopefully super happy Hiccup?

"Of course!" Hiccup said happily. He then, with a smooth motion, twirled his chair in front of the twins, promptly sat on it, crossed his good leg, clasped his hands together and put it on his leg. Meanwhile, Toothless decided to circle the twins menacingly.

"Now-" Hiccup's face suddenly turned serious. "-talk,"

The trio gulped before Tuffnut began.

"Well…" Tuffnut said. "It happened after we kind of partied-"

At the word party, Hiccup snorted. He expected it would begin with a party.

"-with the Flying Rock tribe. We were reaaaally drunk-"

Hiccup groaned and rubbed his temple again. And of course it wouldn't be complete without alcohol.

"- and then it was late. We decided to go back home-"

"With your dragon, while you were drunk? "Hiccup asked and the twins nodded. Toothless narrowed his eyes at the twins. He had seen what could happen when a drunken rider rides a dragon. It was not a pretty sight.

"How many times - and late at night too! I've issued a decree, made signs, and posters and everything else too!" Hiccup threw his arms in the air. He could feel his anger rising again. And this was just the beginning of the story too!

"Well yeah…but you know I can't stay the night there _drunk _when I'm already married," Ruffnut said and gave Fishlegs a sad look. Fishlegs gave her reassuring look.

"Then you shouldn't get DRUNK at all without your HUSBAND around! Or at least make sure that one of you isn't drunk!" Hiccup said and he glared at Tuffnut.

"M-me? What I'd do?" Tuffnut said.

Hiccup gave him a glare that could send a Monstrous Nightmare to run away.

"Oh…well, it's just that I feel bad you know…knowing that I'm the only one having fun," Tuffnut sheepishly said.

"Well I hope you enjoyed it, because after this…" Hiccup said menacingly. Toothless growled at them and the twins gulped.

"Fishlegs," Hiccup said and Fishlegs immediately sat straight.

"Ye-yes, Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked timidly.

"You're her husband. Act. Like. One," Hiccup said slowly in a low tone.

"Ri-right! Ruffnut Ingerman! You're a bad, bad, bad wife! I'm going to punish you-" Fishlegs started and Ruffnut only shivered and grinned.

"Oh yes, I am a bad-"

Hiccup face palmed before stomping on the floor with his prosthetic foot and Toothless mimicked the action with this tail.

"Get. Serious. PEOPLE!" Hiccup said loudly and they jumped in their seats. "And then what happened next?"

"Oh, right!" Tuffnut said and continued. "Well, unfortunately, there was a storm that night and we…uhh kinda went through it?"

Hiccup raised his eyebrow.

"We don't remember much actually! All we know next was we have this massive hangover and we're on a beach," Tuffnut said.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah…we found that we weren't on the Viking Kingdom anymore. Luckily, there wasn't anybody around. So they didn't saw us or our dragon. So we decided to hide Barf and Belch and…"

Hiccup was silent.

"…explore the place?" Ruffnut finished meekly.

Hiccup ran his hand over his hair. "Why?" Hiccup said in suppressed anger.

"Well, Barf and Belch were hurt – but not seriously hurt, just needed some food and rest, so…we couldn't fly back," Ruffnut answered.

"Ah, I wonder, whose fault is it then?" Hiccup asked sweetly with a smile. The twins were creep out by this.

"Yeah…we've learned our lesson. No more drunk riding!" Ruffnut said and Hiccup eyed them silently.

The twins fidgeted in their seat as the silence continued.

"Continue," Hiccup said emotionlessly.

"We then found a town nearby! So we decided that while waiting for Barf and Belch to recover, we would do some…_reconnaissance_," Tuffnut said.

"U-huh, I take it that it ended well?" Hiccup said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well…sure it didn't end well…but it's the journey that matters, right?" Tuffnut said with a hopeful smile.

"You mean?"

"We managed to lay low for most of the duration of our…_reconnaissance,_" Ruffnut said.

"Lay low and quiet?" Hiccup asked and the twins looked away.

"Mostly we just lay low," Ruffnut answered sheepishly and Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Buuuut, we used our diplomatic, ambassador, emissary-" Tuffnut counted his fingers. "- and social skills to the fullest and we managed to get the people to like us!" Tuffnut said, happy at the achievement.

"And yet we still got a war on our heads," Hiccup countered easily.

Tuffnut instantly deflated. "Yeah…"

"But, we learned a lot, Hiccup!" Ruffnut continued. "You should see their kingdom! It was awesome! They have lots of things that we couldn't get here!"

At hearing this, Tuffnut perked up. "Yeah, yeah! They have this awesome food called chocolate!" Tuffnut then reached for his satchel and took out a parcel made of brown paper before presenting it to Hiccup.

Hiccup eyed the twins for a moment before looking at the parcel. He really shouldn't be distracted but...he was a curious guy. And hopefully, the 'chocolate' would lessen his rising anger.

Hiccup sighed and took the parcel. He then carefully opened the parcel to see that something was wrapped inside.

"Oooh! What is it Hiccup?" Fishlegs said as he went near Hiccup to see what was inside.

"Something called chocolate," Hiccup said and opened the wrapping, causing a sweet smell to fill the air.

"Hmmm…chocolate!" the twins chorused happily with a sigh.

"Apparently chocolate is a…sweet smelling mud?" Hiccup said and the twins looked surprised before Hiccup showed them the melted brown chocolate.

"Oh, it melted. It was supposed to look like dirt," Tuffnut said.

"And that makes it much better," Hiccup said sarcastically.

Ruffnut elbowed her twin. "No you idiot! It was supposed to look like shaped bricks!"

Hiccup could only roll his eyes before Toothless came to smell the item in question. After a few sniff, his tongue then shot out to taste the chocolate.

His only reaction was to back away and gave the food a disgusted look.

Hiccup thought that it was appropriate.

"Oh yeah, apparently dragons do not like chocolate. They said that it was made from a…what is it?" Tuffnut said as he snapped his fingers a few times to help him remember. "Ah ha! Cacao seeds! I guess since it's a vegetable, dragons don't like it? I heard it's very bitter too,"

"Yeah, most chocolates are added milk, sugar and other stuff to make it sweet," Ruffnut added.

"U-huh," Hiccup said, still not trusting the twins as he eyed the supposedly delicious food.

"Well, you try it first," Hiccup said and showed the chocolate to Fishlegs.

"What? Why me!" Fishlegs said as he backed away.

"Because if your wife tried to poison me, she'll regret doing it," Hiccup said and Fishlegs gave Ruffnut a betrayed look.

Ruffnut gave him a stern look. "You better eat it! That thing is not cheap!"

"That is what you're concerned about?" Fishlegs asked exasperatedly.

"Trust me, when you taste that, you'd want me bathed in it before-"

Luckily, Hiccup and Tuffnut groaned loudly to drown out the words that came out.

"Ew! Ew! Ew! No, no please don't!" Hiccup said while Toothless shuddered in disgust and Tuffnut immediately dragged his chair away from his sister.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs remained quiet with a blank look on his face; probably thinking about mud (that was supposedly edible) covered Ruffnut.

"Okay!" Fishlegs quickly said and immediately dip a finger into the melted chocolate and brought it to his mouth.

Fishlegs had a blank look for a moment before his eyes widened with a shine.

"It is delicious!" Fishlegs dipped three fingers at once into the chocolate again. "But are you sure that this isn't mud with milk?"

"Pfft! No! It tastes waaay different than chocolate, trust me, I know," Tuffnut replied.

Hiccup and Fishlegs gave him a weird look.

"And why would you know how mud with milk tastes like?" Hiccup asked.

"He bought milk but spilled them on a mud," Ruffnut answered nonchalantly.

Only Hiccup gave him a weird look this time.

"Hey, that milk was expensive!" Tuffnut said and crossed his arms.

"O-kay," Hiccup said. He actually kind of expected that kind of answer from them. It showed that he either has grown accustomed to the twin's antics or they're kind of rubbing on him. He hoped that it was the former.

Hiccup was about to taste some of the chocolate until he realized that there was nothing left. He didn't think it was possible for a (supposedly) delicious mud to be (somehow) gone, cleanly at that from a paper.

"Hey!"

He turned and found Fishlegs whose cheeks and chin stained with chocolate. He was in the middle of sucking his chocolate covered fingers too. He then paused and gave Hiccup a blank look.

"What? You didn't want it," Fishlegs said.

"I didn't say that!" Hiccup said, feeling a little bit sad at being left out from tasting the (supposedly) delicious mud called chocolate.

Even his dragon had a taste!

"Don't worry, I got you covered, Hiccup!" Tuffnut said and pulled out another parcel, causing Fishlegs' eyes to instantly go wide again.

"Annnd, they say that chocolate goes well with a lot other stuff, like biscuits!" Tuffnut said and pulled out another parcel.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs had his arms outstretched like a zombie and went towards Tuffnut.

"Hey, hey, back off! You already had your fill!" Tuffnut said as he put a foot on Fishlegs' chest to stop him from getting near. Unfortunately, Fishlegs was bigger and so Tuffnut was pushed instead and had to balance his chair from toppling over.

Hiccup sighed as he ran his hand over his face. Strangely enough, he felt that his anger has reduced by watching his friends' shenanigans.

"Guys, let's get back to the issue at hand," Hiccup said and all the attention was on him again. Fishlegs quickly backed away from Tuffnut, which caused him to fall to the floor with a crash.

Fishlegs only offered a quiet 'oops' before going back to his seat.

"Oh I am hurt! I am very much hurt!" Tuffnut said and Ruffnut rolled her eyes.

Hiccup sighed again and Ruffnut decided to keep the ball rolling, so to speak. "So yeah, we spent a lot of time there. We saw new things, learned some stuff, tried a lot of foods and drinks; oh they even have hot chocolate!"

Fishlegs mouth watered while Hiccup only raised an eyebrow at them.

"It seems like you were enjoying yourselves. Kinda like going on a vacation, huh?" Hiccup said.

"Heh, yeah!" Tuffnut said as he got up to his seat again. Hiccup glared at him and he realized his error. "Eer…sorry,"

"And then," Hiccup sighed before continuing.

"Well…on our last day there, Barf and Belch have recovered and we decided that it was time to go back home. So, we decided to hit the bar one last time?" Ruffnut finished with a weak smile.

Hiccup groaned. He figured that it would end the way it started; with the twins getting drunk.

"While we were there, we heard an interesting story," Ruffnut continued and Hiccup gave her a curious look. "It turns out that the Queen of Arendelle actually has a magical power. She can control ice, snow and frost!"

Hiccup's eyes widened at this. "No…"

"Yeah! They said that two years ago, she lost control of her powers and she accidently froze her entire kingdom! Buuut, she managed to control it. Since then, she was known as the Snow Queen…or is it the Ice Queen?" Tuffnut said and rubbed his chin.

It was then Hiccup realized how severe the situation was. 'They managed to piss of a kingdom that has a Queen with ice powers?'

"What happened next?" Hiccup said as he began to rub his temple. He has the gut feeling that what the twins did was really, really bad.

"Weeell…we then heard that she wears a dress…made of ice," Ruffnut said meekly.

Hiccup perked up and sat straight. "No!" His logical mind combined with his familiarity of the twins came to one terrifying conclusion.

He hoped that it was not true.

The twins looked sheepish and avoided Hiccup's eyes. "We wanted to see it for ourselves! So we managed to get an audience with the queen,"

"How? You guys were drunk!" Hiccup asked, fearing what comes next.

"Somehow, we managed to think straight for five minutes to fool the court into thinking that we were sober. That and we have our official letter," Ruffnut said, referring to the letter that designates them as the emissaries of the Viking Kingdom.

Hiccup slumped to his chair, speechless.

"We told the royal court that we came on your orders? And we sort of told them where the Viking Kingdom is?" Tuffnut said meekly.

Hiccup slapped his hand on his forehead so hard that it made a sound that startled the other Vikings.

"And when we met her, her dress did seemed like it was made of ice. We didn't know for sure back then so we decided to test it," Ruffnut said.

Hiccup was now shaking his head repeatedly. "Noo…"

"So we managed to get close and burn it…"

"It turns out; the dress was really made of ice,"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO," Hiccup said loudly while clutching his hair and shook his his head dramatically.

"It wasn't that bad, Hiccup! She wasn't hurt! She just got really, really wet..." Ruffnut tried to console Hiccup.

But then Tuffnut had to butt in. "It's only her dignity that got _burned," _Tuffnut said with a grin as he elbowed his sister. Her sister only rolled her eyes in response.

"But hey, if you meet her in that dress...phew! You would want to burn it off!" Tuffnut added.

"Not in front of her court!" Hiccup said as he got up from his seat. The twins gave each other a shocked look before grinning at what Hiccup had implied, or they think that he implied in his state of mind.

Hiccup was pacing around his chair now and Toothless watched him with an amused expression.

"So yeah, umm…we kind of sobered up after that and the Queen was livid. She declared war and vengeance that instant before we ran away,"

"She told us that she will freeze our kingdom, my balls and your balls too before crushing it in front of our very eyes," Tuffnut said and shivered.

At this point, Hiccup slumped back to his chair with his head lolled to the back.

"Of all the places…" Hiccup said calmly. He didn't have the strength to get angy anymore. "…you couldn't pick a normal one?"

The twins looked at each other with a smile.

"No?" Tuffnut said and Hiccup sighed as he sat straight again. "Chocolate?" Tuffnut offered and Hiccup weakly took the chocolate.

"So Hiccup, what are we going to do?" Fishlegs asked while eyeing the chocolate. Hiccup, as if sensing the predatory look, stood up with his back facing the other Vikings.

"Here's what we're going to do. Fishlegs, you and the twins are going to get as many valuables we have; gold, silver, jewelries, weapons and anything else that you think will be enough as compensation for the Queen," Hiccup ordered as he unwrap the chocolate. Fishlegs began to drool but Toothless smacked him with his tail to get back his attention.

"Oh, alright! Will do Hiccup!" Fishlegs nodded enthusiastically.

"Get it done quickly and quietly. If anybody asks, tell them that it is for official business. We don't want to make the situation worse than it already is. Get Sigurd and tell him to prepare a ship. We move tomorrow," Hiccup said.

Unbeknownst to Hiccup, the twins were having a silent celebration with muted cheers, fist bumps and even hugs. Toothless gave them a weird look and was about to make a sound when Ruffnut realized this. She then took out a salmon and gave it to Toothless, who happily took it.

"This is quite good…" Hiccup said as he ate the chocolate and the twins chuckled silently.

Fishlegs could only stare in amazement as the twins celebrated again.

"Phase two, success!" Ruffnut whispered to Fishlegs and he could only shake his head.

He held a hand on his chest and quietly sighed with relief. He had expected for Hiccup to explode like the twins would say, but to his and the twin's relief, Hiccup took it well. However, they were not in the clear yet. The hardest part was when the twins would tell Hiccup the truth.

He hoped that Hiccup would take it as well as he did today. If not, he prayed to the gods that someone would help them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Phase two complete! But what about the next phase?

**Read and Review!**


	6. Chapter 5: A Sister's Duty

**Author's Note: **As of the publishing of this chapter, this story has 132 followers, 108 favourites and 76 reviews! You guys are awesome! Thanks for the support!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 5 – A Sister's Duty<strong>

****__**...~...**__****

"_Destiny, Unity, Duty," Lillian, the Queen of Arendelle said to her two daughters, Anna and Elsa. _

"_It's so rhyme-y!" a five year old Anna happily said while bouncing on Elsa's bed. Elsa only giggled in response._

_Lillian smiled and shook her head and she caught Anna with her arms to sit her down._

_"Now remember well, these three virtues important," Lillian said and her daughters nodded. Lillian smiled at this. "Good girls!"_

"_Destiny represents the predetermined purpose or course in life. A constant among the variables in life," Lillian started and Anna looked confused. Elsa seemed to fare better but she still didn't grasp it fully._

_Lillian gave them a soft smile before continuing. "It means that there are special purposes waiting for everyone, and it is up to them to reach it!" Lillian poked Anna's nose and she screamed in delight._

_Elsa then looked at her hands and willed snowflakes to form. "Is it my destiny to have this power, mama?"_

"_Yes dear," Lillian placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder and Elsa turned to her. "You have a great and wonderful destiny waiting for you, my little Snow Princess!" _

_Anna clapped her hands enthusiastically at this. "Yay! Elsa is awesome!" _

_Lillian and Elsa smiled at this. _

"_You have your own destiny too, Anna," Lillian said and Anna's eyes widened at this._

"_Really? Really? What is it?" Anna hurriedly crawled to Lillian's lap._

_Lillian laughed at this. "I don't know! That's the thing about destiny; it is mysterious until the right moment comes,"_

"_Like a present?" Elsa said and Anna nodded._

"_Just like a present," Lillian smiled and her daughters returned the smile._

"_That is destiny. Now Unity is about the importance of being united and doing things together to accomplish many things. After all, it is easier and better to succeed together than alone, " Lillian asked._

"_You mean like when Elsa and I build snowman together?" Anna asked and Lillian nodded._

"_Yes! It also means being united through bonds of friendship, family, love and many more," Lillian said and Anna jumped at this._

"_We are family!" _

"_Yes!" Lillian and Elsa giggled._

"_And now, finally, Duty. It is a task, job or responsibility that everyone has and it is important to do it well," Lillian explained and Anna looked sad at this._

"_You mean like papa?" Anna asked and Lillian patted her head._

"_Yes. As a king, he has a lot of duties. But that doesn't mean that's all the duty he has. He has his duty as a father too," Lillian explained and Anna perked up at this. "Have your father neglected his duty to you girls?" _

_Elsa and Anna shook their heads._

"_What about me? Have I neglected my duty as your mother?" Lillian asked again. Her daughters shook their heads again and hugged her._

"_No! You are the best!" Anna said and Elsa nodded. Lillian giggled at this and hugged her children as well._

"_I have the best duty in the world," Lillian whispered to them._

"_But, you have your duties too," Lillian separated from them and placed her hand on her daughters' shoulders. "Your duties to each other, as sisters," _

_Anna and Elsa looked at each other with a smile before Anna hugged her sister's waist. Elsa giggled as she could only hug Anna's head. Lillian waited for them to part before giving them her final advice._

"_Now remember. United by Duty. Bound by Destiny," Lillian said and her daughters nodded._

_Just then, the door to her daughters' bed room opened and Walt, the King of Arendelle walked inside._

"_How are my little princesses doing?" Walt said with a smile._

"_Papa!" the princesses said in unison._

_**__**...~...**__**_

Anna stood in front of the large painting of her parents as she remembered their advice. Luckily for her, after her freezing and thawing, she managed to regain back her original childhood memory.

Unfortunately, it also made her realize the pain that she had caused her sister during their isolation.

"_Do you wanna build a snowman? It doesn't have to be a snowman,"_

"_Go away Anna!"_

Ouch.

Anna internally cringed. Well, it wasn't her fault! Okay, not entirely her fault but she didn't know the truth back then!

Oh well, at least building a snowman wasn't a painful experience for them any more.

Anna took a deep breath and faced the painting of her parents.

"Papa, mama, here I am again!" Anna started. "Now, don't worry, I still remember the virtues!"

Anna then started to pace around. "About my destiny, well, I'm still not entirely sure about that. I know that we can have a lot of destinies, like my destiny with Kristoff! Well…I hope my destiny is with him," Anna looked crestfallen at this for a moment before she perked up again.

"But! That's for later! My destiny isn't that great compared to Elsa's anyway. Anyhow! Unity! Well, I'm happy to report that Elsa and I are still united even after all the crap that we've been through!" Anna said happily.

"Especially the crap that I gave her…," she added slowly and looked away for a moment before turning to look at her parents again.

She could imagine her father giving her a sigh while her mother only shook her head with a smile. "I know, I know, I've told you guys about it before, but I can't help it! I feel bad when I remember about it," Anna said with a sigh.

"Okay! Moving on! I'm also happy to report that our sisterly relationship is improving! Much better than last time for sure! No more awkward talks during meals or when we do other stuff!" Anna reported happily.

"Well…except that I still haven't managed to convince her to bathe together," Anna rubbed her chin in thought. "Don't worry mama, I'll work on that!" Anna flashed her mother a grin.

Anna imagined her father shaking his head and her mother giggled at her.

"Okay, now on to duty! I think I did a good job in doing my duty as a princess!" Anna said and her chest puffed out with pride. "I acted as an intermediary between Elsa and the people! I often go out, play with the kids, meet the people and hear about their problems and oh…" Anna leaned in closer and whispered, "…gossips too!"

"I even help Elsa with royal affairs too! I would entertain the officials from other places when Elsa got caught up in a meeting or doing other queenly duties," Anna said with smile.

"But that's my duty as the princess! Now, I have my duty as her sister!" Anna sad in a rather serious tone and she crossed her arms. "Ever since we got the proposal from the Vikings, she's been restless, nervous and worrying herself sick,"

Anna imagined her parents giving her a worried look as well.

"But don't worry! I know what to do!" Anna said and saluted the painting. "And so, I shall embark on a mission to cheer Elsa! Wish me success!"

Anna nodded and turned around crisply before walking out of the door to begin her mission.

If the painting were alive, Lillian and Walt would have smiled, knowing that their daughter have each other to face any challenges that would come.

**…**

"There she is, look at her!" Anna whispered to herself as she peeped through the keyhole of Elsa's bedroom.

Elsa has been trying to make herself busy…okay, busier these past few days to distract herself from the Viking issue at hand. Since the date of the Viking's arrival was drawing near (they could arrive tomorrow), Elsa has become much more restless. Elsa never looked as bad as this before…well except when that Eternal Winter mishap.

Unfortunately, Elsa liked to think that she hid her worries well.

"She thinks I don't know about her nightmares? She thinks she could hide it from me and Kristoff while it is so obvious? She thinks she could push me away, again?" Anna said with a vengeance in her voice and manic look on her face.

In the two years since Anna got her family back, their life didn't just magically become perfect for them like some kind of fairy tale. There were bumps on the road to recovery but they managed it together just fine, until now that is. The Viking issue was a huge bump in their life but Elsa decided to tackle it alone instead of discussing it with her or Kristoff.

It just pissed her off! They had agreed that there will be no more secrets between them! No more locked doors! It was Elsa herself that decided Anna to be included in the meeting about the Viking issue and now suddenly, she locks her out from it?

Anna grumbled incoherently when Gerda, who had the luck to walk in on Anna while she was busy doing her…_reconnaissance,_ gave her a weird look. Not that Anna noticed anyway.

Gerda cleared her throat but Anna only gave a quiet 'what?' in response.

"My dear, what are you doing? I thought you stopped peeping on her a long time ago," Gerda asked.

Anna stood straight and faced Gerda. "It is time for the Royal Entertainment Master to do her duty!"

Gerda gave her a small smile. "Ah, so that makes you the jester then! Do you want me to fetch your jester outfit before you do your duty?"

Anna's face went red and she pouted.

"I-I'm not a jester! Forget what I said! I'm going!" Anna huffed and turned around to face the door and Gerda chuckled.

Anna opened the door and marched straight to her sister's desk. Gerda gave the sisters a smile as she closed the door.

Elsa didn't even give her a look when she addressed her. "Hello Anna. Quite a ruckus you made in front of my room,"

Anna looked crossed and placed her hands on her hips. "Get up,"

Elsa didn't look up when she replied. "What for, Anna? I'm bu-"

"Get. Up. From. That. Chair," Anna said dangerously and this got Elsa's attention.

Elsa gave her sister a worried and scared look. She wondered what has gotten into her. "Are you alright, sister?"

"I'm fine. It's you who are not," Anna said and Elsa knew what she meant.

Elsa sighed and leaned to her chair. "Look Anna, I'm fine-"

"Tut tut tut! No words from you!" Anna wiggled her finger at the Queen. "Only actions! Now get up!"

Elsa was still in her chair as she eyed her sister for a moment. "Anna, I'm very busy-"

"No you're not. I know that you've finished your paperwork for the day and you've been drawing shapes instead!" Anna countered and Elsa flushed at being caught. She quickly covered the evidence with her hand, however futile that was.

"Now, we can sit here all day long and you can throw all the excuses you can think of and I can counter them just as easy. But that's not fun. _So get up!_" Anna said, her eyes blazed with determination.

Elsa gulped and sighed. How she wished one of her officials would come in and pester her with work. At least it would save her from a determined Anna and determined Anna is scary.

After all, she did brave the blizzard that Elsa (unknowingly) created to get her sister back home. And she did it alone at first and while wearing her royal dress too!

"Alright?" Elsa meekly said and slowly got up.

"Now get away from that desk and get over here," Anna ordered and pointed at the spot near her. Elsa hesitantly complied, not wanting to leave the only thing that could stand between her and Anna.

Once Elsa has reached her destination, Anna quickly went behind her sister.

"Anna? What are you doing?" Elsa asked as she got goose bumps in anticipating what her sister would do.

Suddenly, a pair of slender, yet strong (Elsa thought that Anna might have spent too much time with Kristoff) arms wrapped around her body. The next thing she knew was that she was flung into the air (quite high too!).

The room then was filled with Elsa's startled screame as she flew for a second and landed on her bed, with her chest facing down.

She turned quickly and was about to scold Anna when she screamed again as Anna jumped on her.

The sight of Anna jumping on her was short but Elsa would remember for her entire life. It was the look of a maniac!

Anna landed on the bed on her knees and quickly sat on Elsa's lap to prevent her legs from moving too much. Elsa wanted to push Anna away but Anna's left hand expertly grabbed her arms and pinned it over her head.

Elsa was now Anna's prisoner of war.

"Anna?" Elsa asked quietly, her voice quivering with anticipation and little dash of fear. She had never seen her sister like this before.

Anna narrowed her eyes at Elsa before answering. "You owe me a lot of things, sister dearest! Hugs, snow related activities, baths, tickles and many more!"

"Wait, tickles?"

"And I demand payment, with interest!" Anna said and she showed her right hand's wriggling fingers at Elsa.

Elsa could only look at the offending hand in fear. "Anna, don't do this! We can talk!"

"Nope! Don't want to talk!" Anna said with a happy face.

And then she cracked her neck.

There were many things that Elsa regretted in her life…and allowing Anna to go ice harvesting with Kristoff was one of them.

"Now let's do this! The tickle monster demands a sacrifice!" Anna said as she attacked Elsa's side.

The result was spontaneous as Elsa laughed and squirmed as she tried her best to escape and all the while begging for Anna to stop.

Of course, Anna, or the tickle monster wouldn't listen! If anything, it fed the monster even more!

"Coochie-coochie-coo!" Anna said with a sinister smile on her face. Oh, she was enjoying this! After all, it wasn't fair for her sister to get all the fun.

After a few minutes, the tickling stopped and Anna watched the result of her work. Elsa's face was flushed, her hair was a mess and she was breathing heavily. She looked so vulnerable!

Anna's face went red at seeing her sister like this. It made her question her sexuality for a moment. If only she didn't have Kristoff and Elsa wasn't her sister…

Wait, what was she thinking? Focus Anna, focus!

Anna shook her head and a sinister grin formed on her face. "Hmm, I wonder, are your armpits ticklish?" Anna asked the rather rhetorical question and wriggled her fingers again.

"Of course!" Elsa could only say as Anna tickled her armpits and she laughed again.

Anna stopped the assault and brought her hand in front of Elsa. "Now, which one should I tickle next, hmm?" Anna said and brought her hand to Elsa's left armpit.

"No, please…" Elsa weakly said as her head followed the hand.

Anna raised an eyebrow at this and brought her hand to Elsa's right and her head followed. She chuckled before resuming her attack again for a short while. After that, she repeated the same thing; Elsa's head would follow her hand no matter where it goes, as if it could stop the offending thing!

It was so funny! She could make Elsa shake or nod her head if she wanted to! Oh, why must her sister be this cute?

Of course, this won't spare her sister from the tickle assault and Anna continued again. This time however, her face was above Elsa's.

Elsa realized something in between her laugher and pleading; Anna has a rather large (and perverted) grin on her face! It wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't aimed at her or when it was above her face.

"Anna!" Elsa tried to say. "Anna, you're-" she laughed again. "-drooling!"

And then, Elsa saw it with horror as a thin line of drool made its way towards her face.

"KYAAAAAAA!"

**…**

"That was disgusting!" Elsa said as she wiped her face with the sleeve of her dress. Anna was clutching her sides as she laughed in response.

Elsa wanted to say more but she was content with hearing her sister's laughter and she smiled. It took a minute for Anna to stop laughing before she panted in exhaustion.

"Oohh, why am I'm the one laughing so hard?" Anna asked and Elsa huffed. Anna chuckled before poking her sister on the side.

Elsa let out a small 'eep' before glaring at her sister. "Stop that! It hurts now because of you!"

Anna made a funny face and stuck at tongue at her sister. Elsa realized this, quickly grabbed it with her now really cold hand.

"Agh! Col! Col! Col!" Anna flailed around as Elsa chuckled.

"What was that? I don't understand you. Cold got your tongue?" Elsa said with a grin and released her hold. Anna quickly withdrew her tongue and she pouted. Elsa laughed at this and Anna smiled before joining in.

After a minute, the laughter died down and both sisters sighed.

"So, what's next?" Elsa asked and Anna only grinned in reply.

**…**

Anna could be very stubborn when she's determined to do something, especially when it was about her loved ones and Elsa loved that part of her. It was what saved Elsa after all.

Thus, Elsa learned that it was easier to give in to her whims…_sometimes. _Well, she couldn't indulge her all the time or she'll spoil the girl rotten!

Anna was dragging Elsa by the hand as they were running through the castle, all the while Anna was excitedly talking about their plans for today. Elsa laughed and told her sister to slow down but of course Anna wouldn't listen.

Elsa then remembered the time when Anna would drag her to do activities together when they were young. Anna would drag her for almost everything; to show what she discovered, to play, to what she did and so on.

Elsa smiled as they headed towards the town. _"Some things just never change," _Elsa thought gratefully.

The rest of the day was spent doing various activities that a normal person would do, which to Elsa, was quite refreshing.

First, they went to the market to see the various items on sale. The market, which was noisy on normal days, became even livelier when the Royal Sisters arrived. Anna would show her items, trinkets, food and fruits from different parts of the world. Needless to say, by the time they were finished at the market, Elsa was wearing different necklaces, bracelets, rings and a flower crown of all things.

She looked ridiculous with the clashing fashion items but she didn't mind. A lot of people chuckled at seeing her and gave her understanding looks when they saw the mastermind that was dragging her.

Along the way, they were greeted by many children and Elsa gave them the trinkets she acquired from the market. The children were delighted and the look on their faces made her smile.

They then went to the clothing store but not to buy expensive clothing that the owner offered, but commoners clothing. The owner could only shake his head with a smile at seeing the sisters being worked up about normal clothes.

They had lunch at one of the cafés in town that Anna hasn't tried yet (Anna had tried almost all the café in town). Their next target would of course be the chocolate store, in which several children had the brilliant idea to follow them in. This meant that the sisters ended up buying most of the chocolates to share with the children, much to their delight and the store owner's.

Of course, having eaten the chocolates, the children were in a rather…_active state. _Elsa pitied the parents that would have to deal with them but decided to help them a bit. After all, it was _partly _her fault.

Elsa already knew what Anna had planned for them; a snow day in the town square. Elsa didn't need any more coaxing as she covered the town square with snow and the children squealed in delight as they attacked the snow.

Elsa grinned when an idea came to her. She sent a stream of snow down in her sister's shirt and she squeaked rather loudly, much to her embarrassment and Elsa's laughter. Anna retaliated with a snowball, but fighting against the Snow Queen with her own element?

Elsa stopped the ball mid-flight and sends it back to Anna's shocked face. Elsa giggled when Anna glared at her with a mischievous smile. Anna then rallied everyone against her and soon Elsa found herself to be the target of every snowball in the area.

There was too many for Elsa to stop but she did give them a good fight before she was covered in thick snow herself. However, Elsa decided that she couldn't, no, she wouldn't allow herself to be bested by her own element!

With a wave of her hand, every attacker's body except for their heads was covered in snow shaped like a snowman.

"A Snow Queen is nothing without her _snow people, _no?" Elsa said with a smile and her snow people laughed.

**…**

"Let's take a bath together!" Anna said excitedly and Elsa just gave her a blank look.

"What? That's! No?" Elsa replied meekly, blush creeping on her cheeks.

But of course, Anna was not to be denied!

"Come on! It has been ages since we bathe together!" Anna said.

Elsa then remembered the memories of them bathing together when they were little. Her mother would like to bathe them together as it was easier and saves time. Sometimes, it was Elsa that has to bathe her sister when their parents weren't around.

While Elsa was visiting the memory lane, Anna had a devious look on her face. She quietly and quickly sneaked behind her sister and wriggled her fingers.

"Or are you scared of showing me your _Royal Mountains_?" Anna said and promptly grabbed her sister's...Royal Mountains, causing her to squeak.

"You know, I heard people said that Arendelle has beautiful _mountains," _Anna said with a cat-like smile and wiggled her eyebrows as she squeezed her sister's Royal Mountains a few times.

Elsa's face was full on red now and Anna could feel her sister shivering but alas, she decided to give one final squeeze.

"ANNA!"

**…**

Elsa decided to show Anna what happened if you dared to climb the Snow Queen's Royal Mountains without preparations.

Well, at least Anna got to bathe with her sister again, so it was worth it.

**…**

The last activity that Anna planned for the both of them was just a sleepover.

They used to share a room when they were little. They even shared a bed when Anna got scared of the storm and thunder. Or sometimes just for the heck of it.

They used to share everything back then and Elsa understood that Anna wanted to do the same again. She wanted to but…

Anna has a lot to share and a lot to give. She was warm, had an energetic aura, brave and can brighten a person's life with her presence.

Elsa had nothing to share. She had caused so much pain to her sister and she didn't want to hurt her any more than she could. She had taken so much. By handling her own problems and ensuring that her sister had a good and happy life was the only thing that she could give to Anna.

Elsa sighed but she felt Anna squeezing her hand and she opened her eyes to look at Anna.

Tired from the previous activities, they didn't talk at all and had just settled into Elsa's bed, facing each other. However, the both of them knew that no words were necessary at this point.

"_No words from you! Only actions!"_

Elsa smiled. Her sister was good at that.

"Thank you," Elsa said softly and kissed her sister's sleeping forehead. Anna only smiled in return.

"_But, you have your duties too. Your duties to each other, as sisters," _

True. It was just that, they each have their own way of doing their duty.

Regardless,before today, Elsa was scared of the coming Vikings and she had nightmares about them almost every night. But tonight, she was sure that she would sleep soundly and tomorrow, she would be brave; for her kingdom and for her sister.

Little did she know, her bravery would be tested to the very limit.

**…**

The next day, the Snow Queen finally meets the Viking King...and he was furious.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Hiccup and Elsa finally meets, but at a cliff…if you get what I mean. Am I evil?

Since the King and Queen of Arendelle didn't have a name, I decided to give them. See if you can find where I got the idea for their names from.

Read and Review!


	7. Chapter 6: The Strongest Piece

**Author's Note: **Wow! A few hours after the previous chapter was up, the reviews count boosted from 70+ to 100 in an instant! Imagine to my pleasant surprise when I checked my email and found that a large number of reviews were waiting to be read. Thanks you guys!

Now, the previous chapter I admit might have crossed the line a little bit, but I hope not too much that I have to up the rating (although in the future, I might need to). It was just me taking a crack at the many, many Elsanna fics that are dominating the Frozen section. Hue hue hue.

Some readers have been asking where was Kristoff and especially Olaf? Well, to tell you the truth, it is hard for me to write about Olaf because almost every time he appears, something funny and cute was expected from him and it's uhh…I dunno how to write him!

Oh and this chapter got some swearing.

**ShadowKissedGallagherGirlLexia****: **While it does look filler-ish, it actually isn't. A lot of the elements in the previous chapter will be used again in the future. You'll just have to wait and see it.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 6 – The Strongest Piece In The Game<strong>

**A day before the Viking arrival**

"_Kristoff, I have activities planned today for Elsa and I," Anna said, looking away and Kristoff gave her a knowing smile._

"_I get it, you don't want me to get in the way between you two," Kristoff said and Anna gave him a happy look._

"_Thank you so much for understanding! Oh and take Olaf with you! I love you, bye!" Anna quickly gave Kristoff a quick kiss on the lips before sprinting away._

"_Wha-wait!" Kristoff said but Anna was already gone. "I love you too," Kristoff sighed with a smile._

"If the sisters are going to have their bonding time, we can have our own!" Olaf the snowman happily said. "Just the two of us! Like brothers!"

Sven made a disapproving sound and he glanced at Olaf for a moment.

"Hey, don't forget about me!" Kristoff said for Sven.

"Sorry buddy! Won't happen again! Pinky twig promise!" Olaf showed his pinky twig and Sven snorted.

Kristoff smiled before he asked again. "Sure boding time. What are we going to do actually?"

"Like singing –" Olaf started but Kristoff cut him off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there, little guy! I don't sing," Kristoff said and Olaf gave him a sad look.

"But, but, you sing with Sven! And even Sven sing!" Olaf said and Kristoff stared at the snowman for a moment.

"Uuhh…okay, I guess we can do that," Kristoff said and Olaf cheered.

"Yay! And then we can cook marshmallows- oh not Marshmallow!" Olaf said and Kristoff only shook his head.

Kristoff and Olaf was riding on his sled carried by Sven and was heading towards Elsa's ice castle in the Northern Mountains. Since his presence wasn't needed by the Royal Sisters and he didn't have any ice harvesting work to do today, he figured that he'd stock up the ice castle's food supply and probably visit the trolls afterwards.

Before long, the trio reached the staircase that connects to the ice castle. A bridge ramp can be seen beside the staircase to allow sled access and Kristoff directed Sven towards the ramp. A few moments later, the trio was in front of the castle doors.

Kristoff and Olaf got off the sled and went near a large pile of snow, when suddenly it came to life. The snow pile formed into a large and menacing looking snowman and it roared at them.

Sven looked bored, Kristoff only had a lopsided smile and Olaf had a happy face. Still, the roar covered them in light snow powder.

"Marshmallow! How are you doing little brother? Although you're bigger than me…" Olaf said but jumped happily and hugged Marshmallow's leg.

"Hey there big guy," Kristoff greeted as he wiped away snow from his face.

"Heeeeey," Marshmallow, the large guardian snowman said.

When Elsa resumed her position as the Queen of Arendelle, she realized that throwing away the crown was a bad idea. Fortunately, her second snowman, Marshmallow had found the crown. Unfortunately, he also grew rather fond of it.

Elsa then had the idea to substitute the crown with one made from ice. She also made other decorations such as badges for the snowman and designated him as the Royal Ice Castle Guardian. He was very happy at that.

As such, Marshmallow looked a lot more…refined to say the least compared to the first time Kristoff met the snowman. He now has a crown on his head and multiple snowflake badges on his chest.

"Anything happened lately?" Kristoff asked as Olaf climbed the large snowman.

"No," Marshmallow said and Olaf took his head off and plastered it on the larger snowman's shoulder.

"Look Kristoff! Marshmallow now has two heads! Just like that two headed dragon you guys told me!" Olaf said and Kristoff shook his head while Marshmallow gave his brother an annoyed look.

"Okay, let's do some inventory check," Kristoff said and pulled out a rather large package from his sled and gestured with his hand towards the door. "Marshmallow, after you,"

"To the door!" Olaf said and his headless body slid off from Marshmallow, bolted towards the closed door and crashed into it, causing it to break into its individual pieces.

Marshmallow gave an annoyed huff and walked towards the door, taking great care into not stepping on the smaller snowman's body pieces. He then opened the door and Kristoff followed suit.

Once inside, Kristoff paused to take a look at the inside of the castle. The castle was now larger and more intricate than the first time Elsa built it. Back then, even though it was large, a lot of the size was just…empty space. It only had a grand staircase, hall, balcony, a master room and that was it. For a castle, it was weird to have so little accommodation. Even a lord's mansion was more grand.

Now however, it has been upgraded to utilize almost all the space available. Not that space was a problem as Elsa can expand the castle easily. The castle or as Olaf like to call it, 'Elsa's Fortress of Solitude', now has guest rooms, kitchen, lounge, and observation tower that expanded into the top of the Northern Mountain and many more.

"I'll never get tired of watching this masterpiece," Kristoff said as Marshmallow was chasing Sven and Olaf's still headless body.

Kristoff then headed towards the kitchen to begin his job. Now you would think that a kitchen made of ice would be a very bad idea...well it was at first. That was until Elsa discovered that she could make magical ices.

For example, she could make colored ice, super strong ice, ice that isn't slippery or sticky, ice that won't freeze water that it comes in contact with, crystal ice (ice that doesn't give off cold and resembled crystals more than ice) and even ice that cannot melt! Although they speculated that hotter or magical flame can melt it.

Thus, Elsa, aided by Anna, decided to have some fun with her powers. The result was that the ice castle was no longer entirely blue as Anna and Kristoff agreed that just seeing one color for a long period of time can be…detrimental to the mind. It now has different colors for different parts of the castle. On the outside it is still blue but the inside was of differing color. Now the inside of the ice castle resembled more of a crystal castle.

Furthermore, as Elsa's mastery over her power grew, she can make parts of the castle comfortably warm enough for a naked human to survive.

Kristoff arrived at the kitchen and took a look around to see what was amiss. It was clean, like its master of course.

The kitchen if anything looked as if it was made from black crystal than ice. The kitchen counter's top was black with intricate flowery patterns similar to the ones on the sister's royal dresses and it has four matching black chairs on one side of the counter. The rest of the kitchen appliance followed the same theme of black colored ice and flowery pattern inside of them. Thankfully, the walls weren't entirely black.

However, the most interesting part of the kitchen was a tall black closet on one corner of the kitchen. It was the icebox, one of Elsa's masterpieces. It was a closet that is cold on the inside and thus is able to preserve any food put inside for a long period of time. Of course, using Elsa's power, the long period of time equals indefinitely.

Elsa of course, had assigned the brightest minds in Arendelle to try and replicate the icebox without using her powers but, it proved to be harder than they thought it would be.

Kristoff went to the icebox and opened it to reveal the contents inside. The icebox was very close to empty of the easier foods to eat such as fruits, pastries, vegetables, drinks, breads and so on. Kristoff shrugged as he opened the lower compartment that holds the fish and meat. He smiled as he found out that all the meat and filleted fish were gone except for a whole fish that remained untouched.

"Elsa, Elsa, still refuse to work with whole fish, eh?" Kristoff said as he took out the fish and examined them. "Still good, guess this will be lunch then since Elsa won't be using this. Besides, I've brought more whole fishes anyway," Kristoff shrugged and began his work of replenishing the food stock inside the icebox.

The ice castle has become Elsa's (and sometimes Anna's) getaway place when she needed to relax or just wanting some time alone. It wasn't Elsa's idea in the first place but Anna had argued that Elsa would still find way to do work when she's in the royal castle. Elsa was reluctant at first but soon found out that the sense of freedom in the ice castle was indeed relaxing.

Elsa also started to learn how to cook as evidenced by the depleted stock of food. However, she was reluctant to work with whole animals.

"Sooo, Kristoff," Olaf said as she sat down near Kristoff.

"Yeah?"

"You know, I've been thinking," Olaf rubbed his nonexistent chin. "What do you think about ice?"

Kristoff raised an eyebrow at Olaf. "It's great?"

"That's all? You have to be more specific than that, Mr. Royal Ice Master and Deliverer!" Olaf egged him on.

Kristoff wanted to ask why he was asking this but he learned that sometimes, it was easier to answer Olaf's questions first before asking your own if you want to make sense of things. "Well, it's beautiful and wonderful yet at the same time dangerous,"

"Like Elsa?" Olaf asked and Kristoff glanced at the snowman for a moment.

"Yeah, why?" Kristoff asked. Olaf is many things; and unpredictable is one of them. For a seemingly naïve character, he can be surprisingly deep if he wanted to.

"Well…"Olaf drawled. "I dunno, I mean, you like ice, your job is about ice and all. So, I've been thinking, what would happen if you meet Elsa first when she ran away here?"

Kristoff stopped what he was doing as he thought of the situation. "Uuhh…"

What would happen? The answer was obvious; he would fall for Elsa. After all, she was the embodiment of ice, one of the things that his life revolves around.

Kristoff shook his head. Ice used to be everything to him, but now, it's Anna.

"I might fall for her, but I've met Anna first. I guess it was destiny?" Kristoff answered and Olaf looked satisfied. "Besides, if I didn't meet Anna, it's possible that she won't make it far,"

"Oh," Olaf said and looked down. "Oh yeah,"

Kristoff realized this and sighed. "Why are you asking this, Olaf?"

"Well, I feel bad you know. Anna got you as boyfriend but Elsa doesn't have any. It makes me sad," Olaf said and Kristoff gave him a soft smile.

"She might not have one right now, but one day she will, trust me. Especially if Anna has anything to say in the matter," Kristoff said and Olaf brightened again.

"It's just…it won't be easy for her," Kristoff said in a whisper.

**…**

**The day of the Viking arrival**

Vikings are…_tough_ people. Yep; tough, rough, hard, stubborn, brave, harsh, too manly to a fault sometimes (okay, a lot of times!) and among other things associated with the word _tough. _

But really, you can't blame them for being that way; they have to be. How couldn't they? Their culture was about battle, glorious deaths and even more battle in the afterlife. The place they lived in was one of the harshest in the world and also home to many dangerous creatures that constantly attack them. Not to mention of the constant raids from rival tribes who were also Vikings.

Sigurd Eriksson hated raids with all his being. Fortunately, those were in the past.

Anyway, it wasn't a stretch to say that Vikings like to do things rather…roughly.

Want proof? The Vikings fought the dragons for more than 300 years and no Viking has ever managed to tame one during that time. It wasn't that they never tried; they used force to make them submit after all. It was just…they never figured that for such deadly creatures, you would have to use…_softer _ways.

Most Vikings don't do _soft_.

That was why it was quite hard for most of the Vikings to accept Hiccup as their king. Using more wits, wiles and brain more than muscle or force, he was viewed in the same light as the God of Mischief, Loki than the God of Thunder, Thor (who Vikings aspire to be). In other words, they see Hiccup as _soft._ It didn't help that his body looked soft too (mostly because he wasn't as muscular as the Vikings thought he would be).

Well, sure Hiccup was _soft, _but that doesn't mean he can't be _tough_.

Still, Hiccup was mostly soft at times.

Sigurd Eriksson was a 22 years old Viking with a tall and muscular build, blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. He was Hiccup's personal bodyguard and currently, his king has been fretting in front of the mirror for half-an hour now. Well, at least it was an improvement over his nervous breakdown during the voyage here.

"Relax Hiccup, you can do this!" Hiccup slapped his cheeks a few times.

Sigurd chuckled at this. "You weren't this nervous when meeting the other chiefs for the first time,"

"Well, the other chiefs can't freeze an entire kingdom on a whim, so yeah," Hiccup replied.

"Point taken," Sigurd shrugged. "Just relax. It won't help if you look scared. She might take advantage of it,"

Hiccup sighed and shrugged. "You're right. I just hope that I'd don't have to do anything ridiculous to appease her,"

Sigurd grinned. "Like allowing her to freeze your balls and Tuffnut's and watch her crush it in front of your very eyes?"

Hiccup groaned.

"Well, it's not like it's loss anyway," Sigurd continued and Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure the future of the Viking Kingdom will be more productive without Tuffnut's spawn…and you hardly use yours anyway,"

Hiccup grinned. "Oh ho ho, you sir, are playing a very dangerous game,"

Sigurd shrugged.

"And I see you're getting good with the art of sarcasm," Hiccup said and tried to push his bangs to the back of his head.

"Well, I remembered my king doesn't like me being quiet. I was creepy he said. Besides, I learned from the best," Sigurd replied.

"Oh now flattery, hm?" Hiccup said and gave up trying to style his hair and sighed. "How long till we reach port?"

"Half an hour," Sigurd answered simply.

Hiccup was about to speak when a knock on the door interrupted him. "Come in,"

The door opened to reveal the Viking twins and Hiccup turned away from the mirror to face them.

"So you guys know the procedure, right?" Hiccup asked and Ruffnut fidgeted before speaking.

"Urmm…actually, we have something to tell you," Ruffnut said and Hiccup sighed.

"Is it more important than the situation we're in now?" Hiccup asked and the twins nodded mutely.

Hiccup gave them a blank look as he steeled himself. What could be more important than this? He hoped that it wasn't bad.

"Is it good news or bad?" Hiccup asked.

The twins avoided contact and fidgeted nervously. "Both actually," Tuffnut said. "The good news is that…there isn't a possible war at all,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at them. "What?"

"The bad news is that…we…tricked you," Ruffnut added.

Hiccup was silent for a moment before he groaned into his hands. A part of him was truly relieved that there won't be a possible war on his kingdom, but another part of him was furious that he was tricked in such manner. Hiccup didn't mind being tricked sometimes for good fun but, there is a line that you mustn't cross, even for the sake of good hearted fun.

Another part of him was greatly disappointed that his trusted friends would do something like this to him.

Suffice to say, the amount of negative emotion he was feeling outweighs the positive ones.

"I…I don't know what to say or think right now. I'm…I'm just really disappointed in you two. I almost make a fool of myself in front of a foreign Queen…it is funny to you guys?" Hiccup said in a disappointed tone.

"We didn't want you to humiliate you so that's why we're telling you the truth," Ruffnut said and Hiccup sighed.

"You didn't want to humiliate me, but you did fool me, so I guess, mission accomplished?" Hiccup said and clapped his hands slowly.

The twins looked hurt but Hiccup didn't care. Why should he? He was the victim here.

"Whatever," Hiccup waved a hand at the twins. "I guess we'll get a good laugh at this in 10 years or more," he said. "Turn the ship around, we're going back home,"

The twins then gulped before speaking.

"We can't," Ruffnut said and Hiccup glared at her.

"Why not?" Hiccup sighed. "I don't have the mood to deal with anymore of your shenanigans,"

"Because…because we did met the Queen," Ruffnut replied and Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "We told her that you want her hand in marriage,"

Hiccup was speechless for a moment as he analysed what the twins had told him. He then understood what had happened.

He was tricked twice!

Before this disappointment was the dominant emotion he was feeling, and now, it's just anger.

The twins didn't want to humiliate him by making him apologize for something that didn't happen; they want him to court the Queen. They knew that Hiccup would bring valuables under the guise of compensation where in reality, those are gifts to court the Queen.

"What the…" Hiccup finally said. "What were you thinking? Playing matchmaker behind my back, again? And this time with a foreign Queen?"

"What, do you think that you're actually doing me a favour? Is that it?" Hiccup began to ramble but Tuffnut cut in.

"We don't actually expect you to marry her!" Tuffnut said and Hiccup gave him a ridiculous look.

"Oh really? Then what are you trying to do actually, hmm? Is there anything else you want to tell me, anything else that you want to add to my misery?" Hiccup said angrily.

"We just want to get you here! We know that if we tell you the truth that there's no war, you'd leave instantly!" Ruffnut answered.

That was true; he did want to turn back.

"What for? What would you achieve by getting me here?" Hiccup asked but he has the feeling that he already knew the answer.

"We want you…to reconsider your closed door policy, to consider trading with Arendelle!" Ruffnut answered.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at them. "This again? We've discussed it many times before and my answer will always be the same!"

"And that's the problem, Hiccup!" Ruffnut said. "Do you think that what you're doing is going to help the kingdom in the long run?"

Hiccup only glared in response.

"See? You yourself know that it won't! Then why are you still being stubborn?!" Ruffnut continued.

Hiccup closed the distance between himself and Ruffnut and glared down at her. "I did this to protect the kingdom,"

"Yeah, you're protecting the kingdom from the evils of the outside world," Tuffnut said almost sarcastically and Hiccup turn his glare at him. "But at this rate, the kingdom would destroy itself!"

"What makes your kingdom, Hiccup? Who are you actually protecting?" Tuffnut asked. "Is it the dragons or the Vikings?"

Hiccup snorted. "Both of course-"

"It doesn't seem that way to the others! They think that you prized the dragons more than the people!" Tuffnut said. "They even think that you don't have any interest with woman any more, and that you'd rather fuck a dragon!"

Hiccup backed away from them. "Oh come on! It's been only a year after Astrid was missing!"

The other Vikings avoided Hiccup's gaze for a moment.

"_They couldn't find her body, so she must be alive! She's a strong woman…so she'll make it back…she have to…" _

"No, screw this! I don't care what you or anybody else thought about me!" Hiccup said and turned away from them.

"Really, Hiccup? You don't care when there's talk about a possible coup?" Tuffnut said and Hiccup was silent.

"What?"

Tuffnut closed his eyes and sighed. "People are starving and you're making them choose between their family and the dragons, Hiccup. And there are still a lot of people that's on the fence or outright hates dragons like Mildew. What's more, there are talks about individuals that are waiting to take the throne from you. They said that the unification was convenient for those individuals,"

Hiccup turned to face the twins again. "And you decided to tell me now?"

"We don't want you to worry and become even more paranoid! Even if we told you about it, you'd just deny the problem like it never existed!" Tuffnut replied.

Hiccup closed the distance again. "That is for me to decide. The funny thing is, you've actually made me more paranoid now. I can't even trust you two anymore,"

Tuffnut looked angry at this. "We did this to help you! We did this for the kingdom! We did this because we care!"

Hiccup snorted at this. "Could've have fooled me,"

Tuffnut's eyes blazed with anger as he grabbed Hiccup's shirt. "Fuck you! You think you're the only that have lost someone? You think you're the only one that has been doing the all the sacrifice around here, hmm?"

Hiccup's eyes widened for moment before it hardened back to stare at Tuffnut.

"We've paid as much as you have to get here! We've sacrificed to put you on the throne that _you_ wanted! So don't you fucking dare insinuate that we don't care!" Tuffnut said and released his grip.

"Hiccup," Ruffnut said but Hiccup didn't look at her. "We know what we did was wrong, and we're sorry. We did it because we didn't have a choice. You – you've changed, Hiccup. You used to be a visionary. You weren't scared of the future and the world! Now, just want to hide from it…you've become afraid…"

The room was silent as Hiccup glared at Tuffnut who returned the gaze. After a moment, Tuffnut turned away. "Let's go, sis,"

Ruffnut nodded and the twins got out of the room, leaving a still furious Hiccup and Sigurd.

The room was silent again as Sigurd pondered what to do. He could just let Hiccup cool down…that is if he is cooling down after all. Or he could nudge Hiccup in the right direction. Still, he figured he'd give Hiccup a moment to collect himself, hopefully.

If Hiccup wasn't so angry at the moment, the twin's final words might have an impact on him. Unfortunately, there was just too many for Hiccup to process at the moment. It didn't help that his anger was clouding his judgement as well.

He was made a complete fool. Played like a puppet on strings!

His trusted inner circle plotted behind his back. At the moment, Hiccup didn't care if they did it for the good of his kingdom; they still went behind his back.

His own people, his own kingdom was still ungrateful for all that he's done for them!

However, the truth then reared its head and it only made Hiccup angrier.

The truth was that the all of the problem came from him. None of this would ever happen if…

"_You've become afraid…"_

Normally, when he was in sound mind, his logic and understanding nature would acknowledge that he has indeed gotten afraid over the time. That all the problems did indeed came from him.

However, anger, pride and his inherent stubborn nature clouded his judgement, making him deflect any blame to himself and justifying his actions.

'Me, afraid? The fuck! If I wasn't afraid, I wouldn't be king!' Hiccup thought angrily.

A voice then could be heard announcing their arrival at Arendelle's port. Hiccup didn't pay any attention to it.

Sigurd realized this and internally sighed. The twins did have good intentions in mind but the road to hell is paved with good intentions after all. Dumping everything on Hiccup just before the critical juncture was a very risky move.

'They could have done it earlier, to at least to let him cool down,' Sigurd thought but the twins were more afraid of Hiccup turn his tail than anything else.

However, this was where Sigurd comes to play. Sigurd Eriksson may look like he only knew how to fight, but having been in subservient role for prideful men for most of his life, he knew how to push their buttons discreetly.

Hiccup was accused of being afraid, so Sigurd will start from there.

"So…" Sigurd started. Hiccup didn't acknowledge him. "What are you going to do? We could just turn back home…but then the Queen might think that you-we're afraid of her,"

Hiccup huffed as he sat on his table and ran a hand through his hair. "Afraid? I'm not afraid!"

Sigurd smiled. "Weren't you the one that was nervous meeting her before?"

Hiccup glared at him and Sigurd raised his hands in defense.

"Alright, so what's stopping you?" Sigurd asked and Hiccup turned away. "Ah, you're worried that if you did meet the Queen, you'd be playing into the twin's hands,"

Hiccup was silent.

Sigurd internally sighed again. He hoped that it would be enough to goad Hiccup but apparently it wasn't. He has to push a bit more...

Next was pride, which Sigurd was reluctant to manipulate from Hiccup as it was very risky. Over-inflating a person's pride and ego can led to hubris and it was the downfall of many great person.

If their plan failed, Hiccup could be worse than what they intended him to be and it would be their fault.

"But from what I understand, the twins want you to change your mind after meeting with the Queen right? What if you didn't change your mind?" Sigurd said and Hiccup turned to look at him again with an inquisitive look.

"Let's say that you did meet the Queen and you still didn't change your mind. In the end, it's your victory even though you've been played the entire time," Sigurd suggested.

Hiccup looked interested and Sigurd internally smiled.

"You'd have the last laugh. In the end, all their effort will be in vain and you'd win," Sigurd finished and Hiccup smirked evilly.

"You're right. They think that they have me figured out, but they're wrong." Hiccup said and prepared himself.

Sigurd internally sighed in relief. He managed to get Hiccup meet the Queen, but at a high cost of inflating his pride. Even if Hiccup meets the Queen but if he wasn't going to listen to her because of his pride, he might as well not meet her at all.

"Let's go and meet this Snow Queen,"

Sigurd nodded. 'Phase 3 is a success. Now unto Phase 4,' Sigurd thought.

"_So let me get this straight…this plan was very risky from the very start and now you want to gamble it all on the Snow Queen…who's a freaking wild card in this?" Sigurd asked the twins._

_The twins nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah, we figured that if Hiccup doesn't want to listen to us, he'd probably listen to someone who's in the same boots as him, or in his case, boot" Tuffnut said._

_Sigurd grew annoyed at this. "Yeah sure, they're in the same position, but are you even sure that she'd be willing to help, that she'd be willing to put up with emotional Hiccup after what you're going to put him through?" _

_The twins looked unsure at this. "Most likely…yeah?"_

Sigurd wasn't even sure why he agreed with the plan at all. However, it was already in motion and Sigurd could only pray that their plan would work. If not, they might lose everything.

All their hope now laid on the most important piece in their plan; the Snow Queen. She will be the one that would make or break everything.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Oh my god, Hiccup and Elsa still haven't meet yet?! This is blasphemy! Maybe in the next chapter perhaps? Oh, wait, there's still Olaf and Kristoff's time with the trolls that hasn't been covered yet! So I guess, two more chapters? ;)

This chapter was one of the hardest for me to write because it's hard to write an angry conversation that doesn't fly off to god knows were. Most angry conversations in real life tended to end up with both sides picking up at every single fault they could find about each other instead of focusing on the original problem. Then it would deviate and escalate into something much worse. Oh well...

**Read and Review!**


	8. Chapter 7: First Impressions

**Author's Note: **It seemed that some readers were worried that this chapter would be about the trolls and not the Elsa's and Hiccup's meeting…well, I guess I managed to…'troll' you guys?

Anyway, a little bit of Q & A session before we start.

**Princess of Midnight: **The F-word is kinda…well, for the sake of convenience (of the readers and story) I decided to forgo the language barrier and perhaps the time period associated with the particular words as well. Consider it as dubbing in shows where the spoken language is changed to tailor for specific audience, without the need for translation subtitles.

In other words, consider the F-word to be the Viking's swear language translated to English. I know it might not be accurate and breaks the immersion a little bit, but unfortunately, it is beyond my capability to be accurate on the languages.

**T-Biggz****: **The reason why I didn't mention Valka is because that there is a speculation that she might not be Hiccup's mother. I mean, some speculate that the reason why Dreamworks revealed Valka early is to set for a plot twist; that she might not be his mother at all. I could make her as Hiccup's mother but if it is revealed to be the opposite, it's gonna be weird and awkward in my story. That's why, I want to hold of Valka's reveal for as long as possible. That and it doesn't seem the right time for her to appear yet.

Truth to be told, I'm not comfortable at using materials I hardly know much about and in this case, the events in the second movie. Mentioning even the second movie's villain kinda puts me off, hence the short mention.

For me, to be completely safe, the original plan for this story is to wait for the second movie to come out then I can began using the second movie's materials comfortably and even 'sync' the Hiccup in my story with the movie. However, the wait is too long! And by that time, my inspiration to write this story might have been gone. Hell, should I wait, this story might not even make it to the Internet! I might make some changes if I feel the need for it once the movie comes out, however.

**Colonel Pepper****: **Long story? Marriage? Epilogue? If only you know what I had in mind for this story…the only problem is writing it down! Man, I wish there's a device that can read your mind and write for you. Oh well…

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 7 – First Impressions<strong>

Before today, Elsa would wake up feeling dread, hoping and praying that the Vikings would not come that day or even never at all. Today however, she woke up and found out that she did not have to hope and pray for such thing anymore.

Elsa woke up feeling great! She felt as if she could take on the world! This might what Anna feels every morning!

If she would wake up that is.

Elsa watched her sister's sleeping face and giggled. The first time they've sleep together after their isolation, Elsa woke up screaming at seeing her sister's bed head. Seriously, how on Earth did it managed to get that way? It was as if her hair became alive every night and decided to run away from its master or something.

Elsa smiled and decided that a cold wakeup call is appropriate.

The Snow Queen conjured a bed of snow to appear on the floor beside Anna's side of the bed. Elsa then carefully took away the blanket and with all her strength (it was either Elsa's in need of exercise or Anna was just that heavy), pushed Anna off the bed.

"Whoa-" Anna instantly woke up when her body sensed that she was falling and fall face first into the snow. To add salt to the wound, Elsa conjured more snow to completely cover her younger sister with the cold powdery white substance.

"GAAAAHHH!" Anna immediately got to her knees, sending snow everywhere to search for the culprit. Said culprit was laughing very hard in an unrestrained manner, something that was quite rare for her to do.

"You-" Elsa tried to say. "-you're a Yeti!"

True enough, Anna did look like a Yeti. For some reason, her messy bed head didn't get push down by the snow but instead it holds the snow! Furthermore, her face got snow stuck to it, leaving only the eyes visible.

Hearing Elsa laughed made her grin and Anna waited for a while to savor the moment before throwing a snowball at her sister's face, causing her to gasp.

"Oh yeah? I'm also the tickle monster!" Anna said and jumped on her sister.

"N-no!" Elsa tried to escape, but it was futile.

**…**

The positive feeling continued for most of Elsa's morning. Breakfast was a bit weird as it was silent for a while, and that was a very rare occurrence in the royal sister's life.

Anna hated silence, especially between her and Elsa on mealtimes. It was during mealtimes that Anna would be the most talkative, especially during breakfast and dinner. Usually, on breakfast Anna would ask Elsa on her plans for the day and on dinner, she would ask Elsa how her day was before telling her own. It was the time that Anna, Elsa and Kristoff could bond together.

Usually, a silent meal meant that something bad had happen. It could be an argument between the sisters, or between Anna and Kristoff or perhaps something else. However, the breakfast that morning was silent in a good way. The sisters didn't utter a word but smiles can be seen on their faces.

The silence was short-lived however as the dining hall's doors opened to reveal Kristoff. He raised an eyebrow as he examined the sisters' silence but smiled as he saw the smiles on their faces.

"I thought I missed breakfast," Kristoff said with a grin and took a seat. Breakfast then became lively again as Anna pestered Kristoff on what he did the day before and the dining hall was filled with laughter again.

For most of the morning, Elsa felt wonderful and braver than she was yesterday. For the first time, she hoped that the Vikings would arrive that very same day so she could deal with them.

Elsa got her wish. It wasn't even noon when she received news from Kai that a huge ship unlike they have ever seen before with the Viking flag was nearing their harbor.

Anna turned to look at her sister when they heard the news and she was relieved to find that Elsa showed no fear but fierce determination.

'You may be the King of Dragons, Viking King but my sister is the Queen of Winter!' Anna thought with a smile.

**…**

"Toothless, you need to stay here, okay?" Hiccup said to the Night Fury who was giving him pleading look.

Hiccup sighed. "I know, buddy, but it's only for a while and I'll be alright since we don't have any war on our head…for the moment. Besides, if I need you, I'll signal you, alright?"

Hiccup scratched Toothless head and the dragon purred happily. "I'll see you soon, okay?" Hiccup said and Toothless gave him a smile and the Viking King returned it.

Hiccup turned away and began his way back to the deck of the ship. The ship he was in was named the Jörmungandr or the Midgard Serpent. As Midgard was the name of the world (according to the Vikings), the name also translates to the World Serpent.

In Norse legend, Jörmungandr was a huge serpent that could encircle the world.

True to its name, the ship Jörmungandr was humongous. Serving as the flagship of the Viking Kingdom's navy, it was a multihull ship and the largest of its kind. The world probably has never seen anything like it before and every Viking agreed that it would make quite an impression.

This was because the Jörmungandr was a weird, unique and interesting ship. Most ships were of a single hull, but Jörmungandr has three. The central hull, which was the largest, contained most of the vital components of the ship, namely the living quarters, supplies, personnel weapons and even have an exclusive level to hold dragons. The stern of the central hull of the dragon's floor has doors that can be opened so that the dragons can enter or exit the ship. The smaller side hulls of the ship were often called the gun rigs as it held the ship's cannons for ship-to-ship combat.

Most people that saw the ship for the first time would be afraid of the ship's size and cannons. Truth to be told, the cannons were last resort when enemy ships got too close. The main weapon of the ship was the dragons. The Jörmungandr was the first 'carrier ship' in the world and it was capable of bringing dragons across vast distances and into new territories.

Needless to say, when Jörmungandr was filled with a fleet of dragons, especially Night Furies, it can single handedly destroy an entire fleet of warships.

Hiccup took his time in traversing the ship and the Viking crew nodded at him. The Viking King returned the gesture and was thankful that the crew didn't ask anything. He then reached the deck where the twins and Sigurd was waiting for him. The twins avoided eye contact and Hiccup preferred that way. Sigurd nodded to him and told him that they are ready to land.

"Alright, let's get this charade under way, hmm?" Hiccup remarked sarcastically and Tuffnut only grunted in response.

**…**

When Frederik saw the Viking's flagship, all he could say was "Fuck,"

Hugo heard it and gave him a worried look. "Yes, fuck indeed,"

'Seriously? Seriously?! The Vikings already have dragons under their control and now they have a kick-ass ship too?' Frederik thought has he tapped his finger on his sword.

The ship was huge and unconventional but Frederik knew why it was like that; to carry dragons. It would be stupid really to leave such powerful weapons at home.

Sure enough, the ship drew the attention of everyone in the area. Merchants, traders and the people of Arendelle stopped what they were doing as they watched the humongous ship that was taking a lot of space at the harbor. Large ships wasn't a problem at harbors because most of them were just single hull ships and their size were attributed to their length and height.

The Viking's flagship however, was not only huge in terms of length and height, it was also wide!

Frederik had to order the harbormaster to move most of the merchant ships to make space for that monstrosity.

'Live with monsters and you might as well become them,' Frederik thought.

The ship managed to dock without trouble and Frederik didn't have to wait long when the Vikings came out from the ship.

The first person to step on the pier was a huge blonde man wearing a complete grey armor and a huge two handed sword strapped to his back. He looked like he could take on ten people without trouble. If anything, the man reminded him of Kristoff except armored and armed.

Frederik's guards shifted uncomfortably at seeing the mountain of man. "Sir, is he the Viking King?" one of his men asked and Frederik didn't reply.

The armored Viking didn't move towards him but instead waited for another person. The person in question was smaller than the armored Viking but wore clothing more suitable for a royal than warriors. However, what surprised him more was that the Viking King was young, almost as the same age as Elsa.

"No. He's the bodyguard. That is the Viking King," Hugo said to the General and his men.

'Is this the guy that tamed dragons and unified the Vikings?' Frederik thought and he wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or bad. Furthermore, the Viking King looked angry. 'Bad day?'

The Viking King then walked towards them and Hugo made the first move. "Welcome to Arendelle. I am Hugo Johannes, Arendelle's Minister of Foreign Affairs" Hugo bowed curtly and Frederik introduced himself next.

"I am Frederik Havar, Arendelle's General of the Army," Frederik said.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this. Why would they sent the general to greet him? Nevertheless, he didn't want to be rude.

"King-" Hiccup internally grimaced at calling himself king. He still wasn't used to it. "-Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of the Kingdom of Berk,"

If he and his men hasn't heard the Viking King's name and his kingdom, they might have laughed. Fortunately, they were prepared and thankfully, his men kept a straight face. Still, trying not laugh at hearing the name said by an incredibly tense and serious face was a very hard task to do.

Luckily Hugo managed to change the subject soon enough. "Forgive me, the General is here under the impression that you might arrive with your dragons,"

Hiccup was silent for a moment before answering with a straight face. "And what if we did?" Hiccup said, as if challenged.

Frederik wanted to say that Arendelle doesn't want the dragons near anywhere the castle but that wasn't his job at the moment. It was Hugo's.

"Well, we are happy to inform you that we have prepared a comfortable stable for your dragons," Hugo said and Hiccup was quick to reply.

"No, they're comfortable where they are now. Leave them be, and they won't disturb anyone," Hiccup said and Hugo nervously nodded. Frederik doesn't look satisfied with the answer, probably thinking that it would be safer if they chained the dragons first.

Well, tough luck then.

"Very well. Let's us meet with the Queen!" Hugo said with a bit of pretend excitement.

**…**

Anna suggested for Elsa to wear her Snow Queen attire and 'demonstrate' a bit of her power to subtly show that she wasn't afraid to use it against the Vikings.

Elsa shot down the idea saying that it would make her more…appealing to the Viking King, especially when she was in her rather revealing Snow Queen dress.

Anna only gave an "oh" after hearing the answer.

So here she was on her throne in her normal Queen dress, waiting for the arrival of the Vikings.

The wait seemed like an eternity and it was becoming unbearable to the young Queen by the second. In her mind, she was preparing herself for the meeting but for every second passed, the growing nervousness was eating away at her confidence.

Anna seemed to realize this and gripped Elsa's hand, drawing her away from her train of thought. "You can do this!" Anna smiled.

Elsa stared at Anna's determined eyes and she felt her strength returning back to her. Elsa sighed and nodded. "You're right,"

The doors to the throne room opened to reveal Hugo and Frederik who then went to their position in her court. The Viking group then entered the court and while they were walking towards her, Elsa took the chance to examine the group.

Elsa's eyes first went to the familiar faces of the Viking twins, which she realized that Tuffnut doesn't look happy and Ruffnut kept a neutral look. Elsa wondered why but it wasn't the right moment to ask and she shifted her attention to the huge armored and armed Viking. Elsa didn't know the person but knew well enough what he was; a bodyguard.

Which left the only person who was in front of the group to be the Viking King. He certainly wasn't what Elsa was expecting as he was…smaller in size and build. Wearing a red fur cape, a simple looking green long sleeved shirt, blue pants and leather boots? Elsa was under the impression that the Viking King's left leg were gone and a peg would replace it but all she could see was a rather normal left leg.

Unless he hid the peg inside the boots.

Elsa then shifted her attention to the Viking King's face. He has auburn hair which was the same as 'that guy'! Of course, that was where the similarities end. The Viking King's hair was untamed and wild. It was improper for men of the court to be like that but to Elsa, it was a refreshing sight. Plus, it reminded her of their close friend, the mountain man Kristoff. The Viking King also didn't have the usual handsome and 'perfect' noble's face. He has freckles on his cheek and a rather large nose, which was another reminder to the mountain man.

However, the Viking King has a furious look on his face. Elsa's heartbeat rise again as she wondered what would be the reason for the Viking King's fury. She hoped it wasn't because of her kingdom. Nevertheless, she realized something. It might have just been her gut feeling, but she reasoned that the Viking King's furious look doesn't suit him.

Not to say that the Viking King can't pull an angry look to scare people. Oh he could! It was just that, his face was made for a more comforting look.

The Viking King looked different from The Snow Queen's previous suitors and for some reason, it gave her a mixed feeling.

**…**

Hiccup didn't hear much about the Snow Queen, well, except from the twins but given the recent events, he didn't think he could trust anything that came out from their mouths any more.

However, he could not deny that what the twins told about the Queen was true. The Queen was young and almost the same age as him. She was also supposedly to be very beautiful; an exotic and ethereal beauty.

'Eehh, no, not really,' Hiccup thought as he slowly walk towards the Queen to buy more time to examine her just as she was doing to him.

Well, it could be that in Hiccup's heart, there was only one beautiful woman in his life and others just couldn't compare. That and Elsa seemed similar to Astrid somewhat.

'Just because she has blonde hair?' Logical Hiccup scolded him. 'And it's not the same blonde!'

'Shut up!'

Okay, right now in her royal dress, she doesn't look like Astrid at all. It was just that…

_"They even think that you don't have any interest with woman any more, and that you'd rather fuck a dragon!"_

Remembering those words caused Hiccup's anger to rise again. Great, and he was feeling a little less angry before.

'Dammit! Why can't I just told her that I wasn't interested at all?' Hiccup thought.

He could, but not now. It would be weird if he back away now without at least spend some time with her. People would say that the Viking King was afraid of the Snow Queen. He didn't care what people would think of him but…it wasn't about just about him anymore.

And so, he has to 'suck it up' for the moment, just for a while.

**…**

Kai then silently cleared his throat before doing his job.

"Presenting King Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third of the Kingdom of Berk," Kai announced.

"Welcome to Arendelle, I am Queen Elsa," Elsa managed to say with confidence.

King Hiccup nodded before bowing curtly. "Thank you, Queen Elsa. As you know, I am King Hiccup. This is my bodyguard Sigurd Eriksson," he gestured towards Sigurd. "And I'm sure you've been acquainted with my emissaries, Tuffnut Thorston and Ruffnut Ingerman,"

Elsa nodded. 'Ah, so the sister is married,'

"Yes, I have," Elsa said.

"I hope they didn't give you too much trouble," Hiccup said and his voice was somewhat laced with sarcasm?

'Too much trouble?' Elsa thought. It was weird that he would even mention trouble, let alone too much trouble! Granted, the twins did cause some trouble with their unorthodox method but was it expected from them then? If they were troublemakers, why gave them such an important position?

Tuffnut rolled his eyes while Ruffnut avoided eye contact.

'Something did happen between them,' Elsa thought.

"No, they weren't a trouble at all," Elsa said, which it wasn't the complete truth, but there's no point fanning the fires now.

Hiccup shrugged, looking as if he wasn't buying it. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting with the famous and…" Hiccup hesitated, as if saying the next word was painful to him. "-beautiful…Queen of Arendelle,"

The court then became deathly silent when compared to the usual silence when the royalties weren't talking. Ruffnut covered her mouth as well as Tuffnut's who was on the verge of saying something. Sigurd sighed but it went unnoticed by Hiccup.

'Goddamit Hiccup! I know you're still thinking of Astrid, but at least make it believable!' Sigurd thought.

Anna bit the inside of her cheek to stop her from saying things that she might regret later. Elsa however was a bit miffed in the inside.

'He hesitated? It's like he was forced to say that!' Elsa thought.

Elsa wasn't a vain person and she didn't care about her beauty very much. It was mostly because she had other pressing matters to worry about. That and her makeup was taken care of by the servants (and they always make sure she looks beautiful) and she figured that her marriage (if she was ever to get married) would be because of other factors and not for her beauty.

Sure, she had to look beautiful at least for occasions such as this. Sure, she heard a lot of people that sung praises to her beauty, a lot of it from her people. But people of power such as nobles or especially from her suitors, she felt that it was more of a necessity; either because the fear of her, or because one of the many rules of being a noble; to butter the other nobles.

Beauty was never an issue to Elsa as she didn't want to think that that was all to her. She has other factors to make it up for it, even though those factors might not be her own. However, to hear another person, especially a royalty to say that to her was quite a blow to her self-conscious. Not to mention that this would be quite possibly the first time she heard that.

Of course, technically, King Hiccup didn't outright say that she was ugly but…

At that moment, Elsa thought that maybe, she should have worn her Snow Queen dress.

'What are you worrying about? Isn't this wonderful news? He might not be interested in you in the end!' Logic Elsa scolded her.

'Yeah, he's only interested in the 'Snow Queen' and my kingdom, just like the rest,' Elsa thought.

Her rational mind was silent and it frustrated her. She hoped for a rebuttal to say that she was wrong and was overthinking it like usual when it comes to the Vikings but…

It was funny really. She knew her suitors wasn't interested in her as a person and they hid it well. It didn't faze her, so then why the Viking King had such an impact to her? Was it because he was a bit more direct in the matter? Was it because he was supposedly different from the rest?

Elsa didn't realize it but during her inner turmoil, she was silent for a while and was hugging her arms. Anna was furious in the inside and just wanted to jump at the Viking King for his crime!

'How dare him! My sister is the prettiest, beautifullest, most awesome sister in the world!' Anna thought.

Hiccup however was oblivious to the whole thing as his judgement was still clouded by his own negative train of thought. He wondered why the Queen was suddenly silent. Was she expecting more praises from him?

Hiccup internally groaned. One of the reasons why he didn't want to meet the other foreign kingdom was because of the different rules and customs when speaking to their leader. With the other Viking Chiefs it was simple and straight to the point really. There was no need for this sort of ritual to speak to the rulers. Really, it was as if the rulers were treated as something above humans or something.

Which wasn't surprising really. A lot of cultures paint their rulers as deities and it didn't help that the belief was self-propagated by the rulers themselves.

'What, just because she has magical powers, I have to butter her up? I hope she didn't think that she's some kind of goddess of something. Hmph, 'Snow Queen'. What's next? 'Snow Goddess?'' Hiccup thought.

'Well, maybe you should? She could freeze your balls after all,' Logic Hiccup cut in.

'Shut up!'

Luckily for both Queen and King, the situation was saved by Kai, who cleared his throat and managed to return Elsa to reality. Elsa turned to look at Anna, who clearly had a disapproving look on her face, and then to Kai who was silently telling her to keep the ball rolling, so to speak.

Elsa then turned her attention to the Viking King again, this time with a determined look.

"_Thank you_," Elsa said with a little venom in her voice. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this, as if he was innocent. Elsa then decided to…play a little bit with the Viking King.

Technically, she, as the host was supposed to invite the Vikings to stay, offer a tour around the castle and town and invite them for meals. Even if she didn't welcome their stay, she wasn't supposed to leave them hanging. It was rude…but, let's see how the Viking King would react, hmm?

Elsa then stayed quiet, waiting for King Hiccup to make his move and say something. The deathly silence then returned again and everyone could feel the tension in the air.

Well, everyone except Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't say anything and he looked at Elsa and her surrounding rather…nervously? It was as if he didn't know what to do or he was in an awkward situation that he could not get out from.

That was because Hiccup really didn't know what to do next. This meeting wasn't what he expected when he came here. At first, the meeting was to diffuse a 'situation' that could lead to war between the two kingdoms. Of course, he then learned that the 'situation' didn't exists. If it did, it would be much simpler then. He could just explain what happened, apologize, pay the compensation and go back home.

Now? Things were a lot more complicated. Under normal circumstances, and if this meeting was about a different topic, Hiccup would have fared better. Unfortunately, it has to be the topic that he didn't want to talk about!

What was he going to say to her? Give her more half-assed praises? Ask her what to do next? Ask her permission to leave?

Hiccup then sighed and rubbed the back of his head while looking at floor. Seeing this gesture, Elsa raised an eyebrow.

It was strange, really. People that met her, barring her subject, rarely stayed quiet for a long time like this especially when it was their turn to talk. Her suitors would take this chance to flatter her or talk about them or the gifts that they've bought and so on while diplomats would try to sweet talk her into their way of thinking.

King Hiccup however, looked lost.

Elsa then decided that she had her 'fun'.

"King Hiccup, since we are nearing lunchtime, I would like to invite you and your party to lunch. After that, my sister and I would give you a tour of our castle and town. Would you like to join us?" Elsa offered.

Hiccup and the rest of the Vikings internally sighed at being free from the awkward situation. "That would be nice. Thank you," Hiccup replied.

"Lunch is going to be super awkward," Tuffnut whispered to his sister.

"Tell me about it," Ruffnut whispered back.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>There it is! The meeting that you've all been waiting for! This is seriously hard to write! Elsa might seem overreacting but as far as I know, when it comes to politics and the royal court, posturing is very important. Make a move or bad choices of words that would make other people interpret it negatively could spell disaster, even if you didn't mean to offend somebody.

Still, not sure if I'm happy with this chapter as it has a lot of inner monologue. Oh well, next chapter should be more fun to write I guess? One more chapter of angry Hiccup and we can get to the fluffy part!

Oh and congrats to guest reader **SchoolBurner **who (seemed to?) have found my secret reference! Truth to be told, there's still other secret references yet to be found in the previous chapters! See if you, the readers can find them!

**Read and Review!**


	9. Chapter 8: Queen's Gambit

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the delay! This chapter was perhaps the hardest to write so far! Seriously, writing angst that doesn't derail the flow of the story is friggin hard! Phew!

Oh and this story has reached 200 reviews! You guys...are awesome! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 8 – Queen's Gambit<strong>

Silence was not a foreign concept to the Royal Sisters. Both however, had different relationships with it.

To Anna, silence meant the absence of sounds, especially wonderful sounds such as laughter or the voice of loved ones. So it was understandable that Anna had a strong dislike for silence, with exceptions of course.

Elsa however, had a love-hate relationship with silence. She hated it when facing hard times as it reminded her of her loneliness or when she had a fight with her sister. However, she also appreciated the good kind of silence such as the one that allowed her to gather her thoughts and rest after a long day, especially when Anna was involved.

The silence in the dining hall however, wasn't the good kind of silence that anybody would like.

It was lunch time and apart from the standard courtesy of inviting the Vikings to eat and enjoy their food, nothing else was said.

Anna was seething in the inside and Elsa knew that she was stuffing her mouth with food to prevent her from voicing her opinion on their guests. Elsa of course had told her in private that the Viking King probably didn't know what he did wrong but it still didn't stop her sister from being vengeful.

Elsa was simply content with observing her guests to gauge her next move. Usually, her suitors was the one to make the first move and all.

The twins were silent as whatever that came out from their mouths would probably anger Hiccup. He did told them to stay quiet unless when they were addressed. Not wanting to make the situation even worse than it was, the twins agreed to stay quiet. Besides, the food was enough incentive to keep them quiet anyway.

Sigurd the bodyguard was simply enjoying the good food in front of him.

Hiccup was not usually a silent person, especially when meeting new and interesting people. Of course, given his current state of mind, he wasn't in the mood to talk and right now. It was probably for the best, considering that sarcasm was a part of his personality.

When he was little, he couldn't really lash out physically ('physical' was one of his problems at the time) at people that teased him, the shunning from the tribe and from his own father's disappointments. Thus, sarcasm was his way to deal with those problems. It also helped that most of the Vikings didn't understand his sarcasm so he pretty much got away most of the time.

Of course, he couldn't be sarcastic in front of important people…that are not Vikings (the Vikings weren't so touchy). Especially in front of someone that can freeze entire kingdoms.

It didn't helped that Hiccup was in a sense, was at war with himself.

'Can't the day go any faster? I need to get home so that-' Hiccup thought.

'So you can what? Deal with the 'coup'? Root out 'rebels' that might not exist in the first place? How are you going to do that exactly?' Logical Hiccup put out his thought.

Hiccup stabbed his (rather delicious) dish with vengeance as he growled lightly.

'It might not exist right now, but in the future! Dammit! After all I've done for them!' Hiccup thought again.

'Well, it wasn't like they asked for it. You kind of imposed it on them. If anything, you sound like a righteous prick right now,' Logical Hiccup added again, which wasn't doing the both of them any favour.

'I'm doing this for the good of our people!' Hiccup countered.

'Yeah sure, because you're the only one that knows what's best for the Vikings and everyone else is just a sheep that you have to herd,' Logical Hiccup replied and Hiccup groaned into his hand.

He hated it when he practically sarcasm himself.

Of course, his action didn't went unnoticed by practically everyone on the table.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this. 'It seems that King Hiccup was having a war with himself?' Elsa thought. 'I wonder why?'

"Is the food not to your liking, King Hiccup?" Elsa asked and Hiccup raised his face from his hand.

"What? Oh no, the food is wonderful! Couldn't have cook it better myself!" Hiccup automatically replied without giving much thought.

This got Elsa's attention. "Oh? You can cook?"

"Well, I don't have the luxury of servants cooking for me all the time," Hiccup replied and this time with a _reflex _eye roll. The other Vikings internally groaned and Elsa, who was watching Hiccup, was speechless.

Hiccup, despite in his terrible state of mind, still managed to realize his error and it only add to his frustration and anger more. He didn't do anything to rectify it however.

Sigurd gave the twins a sharp look and the twins nodded softly.

The twin's plan was for Queen Elsa to hopefully, be able to calm Hiccup enough for him to be able see reason and change his mind. However, the way things were going, even the Queen would give up on Hiccup.

The only way to salvage the situation was to tell the Queen of the truth and hopefully, the Queen would help them.

Elsa replied with a quiet 'oh' and turned her gaze at her food. She wanted to say that she can cook as well but feared Hiccup's remark on her rather meager cooking skills.

Anna could only glare daggers at Hiccup.

Hiccup sighed at this and got up from his seat and gained everyone's attention. "I'm sorry, Queen Elsa, I don't think I can take up on your offer for the tour. I'll be taking my rest in my ship," Hiccup said. "I thank you for your generosity," Hiccup said and promptly went to the doors.

The twins were eyeing their king with bulging eyes. "But, but, they have chocolate truffles for dessert!" Tuffnut said sadly.

**…**

Hiccup sighed as he walked down the hallways in a hurried pace. He then heard the clanking noises of armor and soon, Sigurd was beside him.

His bodyguard was quiet but Hiccup knew what he would want to say.

"I know, I was rude," Hiccup said and rubbed his temple.

'And immature,' Sigurd wanted to add but it would be better to not fan the flame. "Yes, yes you were,"

Hiccup sighed again. "Where are the twins?" Hiccup asked.

"They'll be coming shortly," Sigurd replied.

"Good. We'll rest for the day and leave tomorrow morning," Hiccup said and Sigurd was silent.

Suddenly, one of his Viking crew ran up to him. "King Hiccup!"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"

"Your dragon, Toothless! He got sick!" the crewmember said.

Hiccup's eyes widened at this. "What!? What happened!?"

"We don't know! We feed him lunch as usual and suddenly he was convulsing on the floor and there's foam from his mouth! We thought that it might be because of the fish that we got from the market!" the crewmember replied.

Hiccup didn't need to hear anymore as he ran full speed towards where his best friend was followed by Sigurd and the crewmember.

'Please don't let anything happen to Toothless! I can't lose him!' Hiccup thought desperately.

Meanwhile, Kai was perplexed at the situation. When the Viking messenger told him that he has a message for his King, Kai had allowed him to interrupt King Hiccup during his lunch.

However the messenger simply told him that it can wait until the Viking King has finished his lunch. Kai didn't think that the message was urgent then.

But from the reaction of the Vikings, it did seemed urgent. So why did the messenger waited to relay the message?

**…**

Elsa was glad that Hiccup took his leave and choose not to spend the rest of the day with her. She didn't want to think what could have happened if they did. Hiccup would probably react to it much like a child that was forced to sit through a show that he hated.

Elsa was about to excuse herself as well when she was stopped by the Viking twins.

"Queen Elsa," Ruffnut started and Elsa turned her attention to her.

"Yes?" Elsa said softly.

"We apologize for our King's behavior. He wasn't like this," Ruffnut said and this intrigued Elsa and Anna.

"Did something happen?" Elsa asked and the twins avoided her eyes.

"Well…yeah, something did happen and it was kinda our fault?" Tuffnut said and rubbed the back of his neck.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at them.

"Before we get to that, we have to tell you why we did it," Ruffnut said and Elsa didn't reply for a moment.

Should Elsa listen to the Vikings? She had a nagging suspicion that the reason why they were here wasn't as what it seems.

A different reason than courting the Queen of Arendelle, that was for sure.

Anna turned to look at her sister. It seemed that her anger on the Viking King was replaced by her curiosity, just like Elsa.

"Go on," Elsa said and the twins nodded. They took a deep breath before Tuffnut started.

"Well, you know that our kingdom is young right?" Tuffnut asked and Elsa nodded. "Before we were unified under a single banner, the Vikings were splintered into many tribes. Life back then was filled with fighting; if we didn't fight the dragons, we would fight and raid other tribes for resources,"

"Of course, to us and many other Vikings, it was the normal way of living," Ruffnut continued and shrugged. "Heck, Hiccup probably would have settled into that way of living as well if he didn't went exploring. He probably would have just be a Chief instead of King right now,"

"But, one day, Hiccup decided to explore further than he ever had before. He went beyond outside of the kingdom and when he returned, he…changed a bit. He also brought another Viking with him," Ruffnut said but the servants came in and brought out the desserts.

They waited until the servants had finished their task before Elsa motioned them to continue.

"The other Viking was Varin Hafrson," Ruffnut continued while her brother played with his dessert as they were not in the mood to eat right now. "He was…you could say a victim,"

Elsa and Anna gave them confused looks. "What do you mean?" Elsa asked.

"Well, not all Vikings choose to stay to fight the dragons. Some thought they would have better luck elsewhere, so they set sail to other lands outside of our kingdom. Most of them weren't fortunate; Varin and his family was attacked and captured as slaves," Ruffnut explained and Anna and Elsa shared a sad look.

Slavery was never right.

"Hiccup, during his travels, found Varin and released him and they both returned home as changed men. Both have a goal but different visions," Tuffnut continued the story.

"They both wanted to unite the Vikings but for different purposes. Hiccup…he just wants to make our lives better even though the rest might not see it that way," Tuffnut said.

Anna and Elsa shared a look between them as their view on the Viking King started to change a bit.

"But Varin wanted to unite us to fight back the rest of the world," Tuffnut continued and this gained the sisters attention.

"The world? What do you mean?" Elsa asked.

The twins avoided her gaze for a moment. "You know, the 'superpowers'? You know how they are when they found valuable resources…" Tuffnut said and Elsa nodded in understanding.

"When they found something they want, if they could take it by force, they would," Tuffnut continued. "They both understood and feared that. They understand that when the world knew of the dragons, they would come for them,"

"This is where they both had clashing ideologies. Hiccup wanted to protect them by keeping them a secret and isolate the Vikings and the dragons from the rest of the world," Tuffnut said and the sisters' eyes widened as they shared looks again.

Anna didn't say a word but Elsa understood it well enough. Hiccup sounded like her when she was afraid.

"Varin said that it was impossible to do that and he wanted to take…preventive measures of sort. Bring the fight to them instead of waiting, you know?" Tuffnut said and Elsa nodded.

"It was a sad thing. They both were good friends…and became each other's worst enemies," Ruffnut continued next. "Varin then became the leader of the Sky Fang tribe and were the last to fall and Hiccup lost his voice of reason that day as well,"

The twins gave the Snow Queen a sad look.

"You mean…?" Elsa asked the twins nodded.

"Yes, his fiancée, Astrid Hofferson," Ruffnut said and the sisters suddenly understood a little bit on why Hiccup was furious. He was probably still grieving.

That also meant that Hiccup wasn't interested in her as well.

Elsa internally sighed. It didn't surprise her at all, but still it didn't stop her from feeling a pang of pain in her heart.

How many times has it already been? You'd think that she would be immune to it.

Elsa then realized that Anna and the Vikings were looking at her. "Continue," Elsa said in a neutral tone and the Vikings nodded. Anna was still looking at her though.

"Well, after that, Hiccup finally managed to unite the Vikings. But, things weren't going so well…" Ruffnut continued. "You see, it would be different if the Vikings were united under…you could say, a different person without Hiccup's ideology,"

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"A normal Viking King would probably exterminate the dragons or if they had them under control, choose Varin's path," Ruffnut explained and Anna's eyes widened in understanding. "We are after all, warriors all the way through,"

Elsa nodded as well. It made sense. Almost every civilization in the world that, when had gathered a significant military power, would went ahead and use it against weaker civilizations. Especially civilizations that were...fighting oriented.

"But Hiccup didn't want that," Tuffnut said.

Elsa's respect for the Viking King grew at hearing that.

"What's more, he wants to change the Viking's way of living and you know how people react to changes, especially when those people have stubbornness issues," Ruffnut said and Elsa nodded again.

Change was not easy to accept.

"He forced people to coexist with dragons. I mean, our tribe had years to adapt to them and we are lucky that our village was one of the nicer ones. Some tribe whose way of living centred on fighting the dragons have deep hatred of them were not happy at all about the change," Tuffnut continued from his sister. "It didn't help that some tribes wanted to use the dragons for war once they knew of their potential,"

"But, surely not everyone shared the same view?" Elsa asked with a hint of worry.

"Fortunately, no. Some remain loyal to Hiccup simply because he is the king. Some want change in the Viking's lifestyle and some just want to explore the world now that they don't have to worry about dragons anymore," Tuffnut explained.

"But King Hiccup's closed doors policy isn't helping matters," Elsa said and the twins nodded.

"Hiccup wants to do a lot of things but it can't be achieved with isolation," Ruffnut said. "We're afraid that…if this continues, there will be a possible upraising and civil war,"

Anna gasped and Elsa nodded in understanding.

The Vikings weren't like her people. The people of Arendelle were of the gentle folk, so to speak. They would be happy with whatever that their government decided for them, as long as it benefitted them of course. Heck, it would take them quite an effort to instigate a rebellion.

The fact that her people didn't march to her Ice Palace to kill her years ago was proof of that.

But the Vikings, almost all of their people were stubborn, brave and fierce warriors that weren't afraid to voice their opinion if needed be. If Elsa was their Queen and brought about a Great Freeze on them, you could bet that the whole Viking kingdom would die trying to stop her.

"In other words, to prevent such thing from happening, King Hiccup had to appease them in some way," Elsa said and the twins nodded.

"Yes, if we could at least have trade on luxury items to distract the Vikings from other matters until they changed their minds or divert their energy to something else," Tuffnut said.

"But here comes the biggest problem; Hiccup refused to listen! We tried almost everything to just at least make him listen to reason, but he figured that the Vikings will have to make do with the way things are going," Ruffnut continued and suddenly Elsa's eyes widened in realization.

Suddenly it all made sense.

**…**

"Toothless!" Hiccup barged into the where his dragon was kept, expecting to see the worst case scenario that had been running in his mind.

Instead, he found a perfectly healthy and confused Night Fury looking back at him with a titled head.

Suddenly, it all made sense…

The twins' plan for him weren't finished!

He quickly turned towards the Viking crew that had gave delivered him the message. "You! Who the Hel are you loyal to? Me or my subordinates!?" Hiccup grabbed the man's collar.

"I-I- the twins said that you would like the prank!" he stuttered and Hiccup was close to take action but Sigurd put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"You can punish him later. The twins are still in the castle," Sigurd said and Hiccup's eyes widened in realization.

"Dammit!" Hiccup cursed and released the man before heading back towards the castle.

**…**

"Now it made sense…" Elsa said and placed a hand on her forehead.

The Vikings tried _almost _everything…except…

The reason why King Hiccup was angry was because…

If Elsa never lived her life the way it is, she wouldn't understood what the twins did.

"So I take it that you…tricked him to get out his kingdom and come here?" Elsa said and the twins were shocked that the Queen caught on so fast.

After all, Anna had tried a lot of things to get Elsa out of her room during their isolation years.

"Yes…" Ruffnut said.

King Hiccup was angry for a lot of reason. One for being tricked and the other was because he was still grieving.

"And that trick involves the marriage proposal, am I correct?" Elsa said, her voice was devoid of any emotion.

"Yes..." Tuffnut said this time.

Anna's eyes widened. "So it wasn't King Hiccup's decision in the first place!"

The twins nodded and Anna turned to look at Elsa.

Elsa sighed. Fortunately for her and everyone, she had been through this kind of situation before. Situation where her suitor wasn't interested in her and only want her to advance their goal, just like how the Vikings were doing.

"We're sorry Your Majesty, but Hiccup wouldn't have set foot here unless drastic measures were taken!" Ruffnut explained.

"Then what?" Elsa asked. "You've managed to get him here, so what then?"

"Well…we hoped that when Hiccup has arrived here, he would change his mind," Ruffnut answered.

"It doesn't seem to be working…" Anna said and the twins looked sheepish.

"It's…umm…we kind of expected that," Tuffnut answered. "We actually hoped that Queen Elsa would be the one able to convince him,"

Elsa closed her eyes and internally sighed. She expected this.

Anna gasped. "You're just using my sister!"

The twins were taken aback. "N-no! We're not!"

"Mr. Tuffnut and Mrs. Ruffnut," Elsa said and the room became silent. "Why do you choose _now _to tell me of your plan? Why not when we first met?"

The twins looked guilty at this. "We-we thought that maybe you won't trust us and you wouldn't help,"

"That would be my decision to make, yes?" Elsa said in a low voice. The temperature in the room began to drop and the twins nodded quickly.

Elsa had enough. She had enough of being treated as a pawn in other people's game without her consent. She had enough of being seen as…_something _else.

The Snow Queen then began to grow tired and angry of games and manipulations.

'No more,' that was all Elsa could think of right now.

"And so you chose to tell me now, leaving me with little time to decide and thus, it would pressure me to do as you planned. Correct?" Elsa said and opened her eyes slowly. Frost began to creep into the room and everyone began to look worried.

"We-we…" the twins looked at each other.

'Bingo,' Elsa thought.

"Then isn't that the definition of _using me?" _Elsa said dangerously.

The twins sighed. "It does seem that way, now that we think about it. We're sorry," Ruffnut said. "We thought-no, we were banking on your kindness and understanding, Queen Elsa!"

Elsa didn't respond.

"We thought that you would understand Hiccup, because…of what you've been through. You both seem similar!" Ruffnut continued.

At this Elsa's anger began to rise. How dare these people presumed to know about her!? About her pain and suffering!? The things that she had to go through alone for most of her life!?

"Similar? In what way? Did your King has to live in fear of hurting everyone for years!? To lock himself away from society and the world because of that fear!? Does he wield a power that could harm the very people that he was sworn to protect!? Is he literally of a different breed than anyone else!?" Elsa got to her feet quickly which startled everyone.

"Well-no, not lite-" Tuffnut said but Elsa cut her off.

"Then in what way we are similar!?" Elsa said loudly which began to worry Anna. "You dare to involve me, a Queen in your scheme? You dare to presume that you know me?"

Which was hypocritical. Wasn't she the one that assumed the worst of the Vikings before their arrival?

"You thought that I would jumped at the chance to appease your King like some love struck fool!?"

"N-no!" the twins said but Elsa wasn't finished.

"You didn't even think that I would get angry, didn't you?" Elsa narrowed her eyes at the twins. "It shows that you didn't even consider my feelings or opinion on the matter!"

The twins looked guilty at this. In a way it was true.

It wasn't that they didn't consider her feelings at all. It was just that they considered it _wrong._

It was funny, they expected Hiccup to be angry and the Elsa to be calm and collected and understanding of their cause and would help them. They were quite certain that Elsa would help them and their cause of concern of failure would be Hiccup's unwillingness to listen to reason.

Now, it seemed that both of them would be unwilling to listen at all.

"Your Majesty please listen to us-" Ruffnut started but was cut off again.

"I've listened enough!" Elsa said and icicles sprouted behind her seat, earning a startled cry from Anna and the twins. Fear began to show on their faces and it hurt Elsa to see it on Anna.

But her emotions doesn't allow her to stop. Elsa has experienced many emotions before, but anger was one the rarest emotion she had the luxury to display.

It felt _good _and _empowering. _

Maybe, if she just showed these people that she wasn't to be trifled with…

"If you've approached me earlier, I might have believed in your cause and help you. Now I'm not sure whether this-this _plan _of yours is like what you said it is! Perhaps it's just another diabolical scheme by you, your King and your kingdom!" Elsa said and the twins, to their credit, wasn't afraid anymore.

Anna gasped at this. "Elsa!"

Elsa was shocked that her sister wasn't siding with her. "You can't honestly believe them! Remember Hans?"

"I do but-" Anna said but was cut off by Ruffnut.

"Excuse me? You think that we have ulterior motives for doing this? We know what we did was wrong, but we were desperate! We did it with the best intentions in mind!" Ruffnut defended and Elsa glared at her.

"Good intentions doesn't justify a wrong action. Is a man that robbed, hurt and killed people to feed his family innocent?" Elsa asked.

"No but-"

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions. You and your King should do well to remember that," Elsa said and Anna gasped.

"Elsa!" Anna said and got to her feet. Elsa ignored her.

"Now leave, I have my own kingdom to care about. I do not have the time to worry about other kingdoms," Elsa said and Anna gave her a disbelieving look.

The twins then got to their feet as well, which worried Anna.

"What we did was wrong, and we apologize," Tuffnut said. "And we thought that you would understand Hiccup because of what you went through. But you're right, you _don't _understand,"

Elsa's eyes widened and was about to retort when Ruffnut cut her off.

"You and your kingdom never went to war so you don't know what we've went through. You and your kingdom are lucky to have that luxury. You don't know what we _would_ do to prevent going through another one, even despicable it may be. We thought that _you_, of all people should know that," Ruffnut said and with a bit of venom in her voice as she stared at Elsa.

Anna's eyes however, widened as she heard the Vikings. Anna understood them.

"Contrary to popular belief, not all of us Vikings loved to fight," Ruffnut said and began to turn around.

"We didn't tell you because we were desperate for you to help us…because you're the only one we believed in. But it looks like we believed _wrong," _Ruffnut said again.

Elsa's gaze softened at hearing this.

"Good day, _Queen _Elsa," Tuffnut said and the both of them didn't even bother to bow before taking their leave.

Once the twins were gone, Anna turned to her sister sharply. "I can't believe you!"

Elsa was shocked at this.

"What have gotten into you!? What happened to my..._cool_ sister!?" Anna asked and Elsa winced at the pun of sorts.

"Me!? I'm the victim here!" Elsa defended.

"That may be! But you could have use your own advice and handle it better-better than King Hiccup! You're not like this!" Anna said and Elsa was miffed that her sister, the very same sister that she had to keep in check in the presence of important people, was lecturing her.

"Oh so I'm not allowed to get angry then!?" Elsa retorted. "That I shouldn't feel? That I should conceal? That I shouldn't let people know that I have emotions as well?"

"I didn't say that! You can get angry, but not in front of them!" Anna said and Elsa's anger began to rise again.

"How could you side with them? Don't you remember what Hans did to us?" Elsa asked.

"Of course I do! I'm the one that experienced the betrayal! Not you!" Anna said loudly and stared at her sister, daring Elsa to challenge her on that statement. Elsa was taken aback and turned her gaze away. "You're just using the Vikings to release your pent up anger! It's not fair and it's unlike you!"

Elsa turned to look at her sister again. "Well maybe it's because I'm tired of being seen as a chess piece, tired of-of being seen as the Snow Queen! I'm tired that people would only want me because of my title, because of my kingdom and because my powers!"

Anna's eyes widened and this she didn't say anything. She just stood there and watched her sister.

Elsa couldn't stare the stare anymore and turned around and was about to leave when Anna hugged her from behind.

"I understand, Elsa," Anna said and placed her head on Elsa's shoulder.

Elsa was quiet for a moment before she responded. "You do?" Elsa said softly and Anna hummed in response.

Although both sisters promised each other that there will be no more secrets between them, it was easier said than done. They both do it thinking that it was to protect each other.

"I understand that even though you said that you didn't care when people could only see you as the Snow Queen, you actually cared. I understand that even though you said that you no longer cared when you see fear in people that doesn't understand, you actually cared," Anna said. "That it hurts you when people called you a monster, witch, Ice Queen. That they judged you before knowing you,"

Elsa stayed silent.

"I understand. I went through the same thing…well not exactly the same but almost," Anna continued and Elsa's eyes widened.

"What-"

"I was the spare and not a good one at that. Some people actually feared at the prospect of having me on the throne. I guess that's why there's no plan to remove you from the throne," Anna chuckled. "And what's more is that my child would face the same stigma if not worse because Kristoff wasn't royalty. My child would be the 'acceptable' replacement until you have your own,"

Elsa's eyes narrowed in anger. "Who-" Elsa wanted to break away from her sister's hug but Anna only tightened her hold.

This was why they both didn't tell each other this particular secret of theirs. Anna would be overly critical of any suitor that even looked at her sister funny. Elsa would probably freeze the entire kingdom to stop people from saying bad things about Anna.

"It doesn't matter, I've learned to ignore it," Anna said and Elsa stopped struggling.

"But to ignore doesn't mean you don't feel it," Elsa said and Anna hummed in response.

"Sometimes, that's all you could do to get what you want," Anna replied. "I ignored your requests to be alone back then, and look what happened,"

Elsa giggled and she felt her anger subside. "But if you ignored me, then none of this would ever happened, no?"

Anna shrugged. "True, it was ironic I guess? You just have to ignore those that don't care about you until the right person just…decided to ignore to care enough, if that makes sense,"

Elsa giggled again. "It does. It's just like you, you ignore my privacy because you care,"

Anna chuckled. "So, are you…_cool _enough?"

Elsa grinned and elbowed her sister.

"Good. I don't like seeing you angry, Elsa. I mean, you can get angry but…not like this," Anna said and began to slowly sway on the spot with her sister.

"Why?"

"Because it makes you…evil? I mean, you were always so selfless, even when you could be selfish," Anna explained. "Seeing you angry like this that it makes you selfish…it's…I don't like it,"

Elsa sighed at this. "Because I'm always _cool, _isn't it? Because the Snow Queen must always be _cool, _calm and collected?"

Anna giggled. "Yes. Elsa, I know that you don't like it to be seen as the Snow Queen but it's a part of what you are,"

Elsa cringed at this.

Anna knew that it probably wasn't what Elsa wanted to hear right now but it was probably what she needed to hear.

Anna noticed something about Elsa. When something bad happened because of her powers, she would grow to dislike it. But when something good happens because of it, she would like it.

To Anna, Elsa didn't truly love the Snow Queen part of her. Only accepting the good while rejecting the bad was not how to love. You have to accept both the good and the bad.

"I for one, love having the Snow Queen as my sister! I have like, the _coolest_ sister ever!"

Elsa smiled at this.

"Elsa, no one in the world could turn a blind eye to the Snow Queen just to see Elsa," Anna said and Elsa's smile faded. "People won't stop seeing you as the Snow Queen,"

"I know. I just…want people to see Elsa as well,"

"But the Snow Queen is Elsa," Anna said and Elsa's eyes widened.

"You could have become _the _evil Snow Queen, but you're not!" Anna said cheerfully.

"Didn't stop people from fearing me," Elsa said softly.

"People fear what they don't understand, just like when you didn't understand your powers. They don't understand you but I do," Anna replied.

Elsa sighed.

"And the right person that are able understand you will come one day. I promise. But right now, the Vikings understood you as well," Anna said and Elsa tried to turn her head at her sister.

"You believe in the Vikings?" Elsa asked and Anna giggled.

"I want to believe in them," was Anna's reply.

"What!?"

Anna giggled again. "I can't explain it but...well to be honest, I don't like that Hiccup since you know, he's an ass,"

"Anna!"

"It's true! But I believe the twins," Anna said.

"Why? For all we know, their plan could be a ploy," Elsa said, still not convinced.

"A very risky plan that wasn't executed well?" Anna explained. "A plan that if done in some other kingdom would most likely fail and turn against them horribly? In fact, if they had told us when we first met, I don't think I would believe them,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.

"They did this because were desperate. They were scared of you refusing them or taking advantage of the situation. They didn't want to think that you would refuse because they desperately want you to help them," Anna said.

Elsa's gaze softened at this. 'Is it true?' Elsa could only thought.

"How would you know?"

"I don't know. I guess maybe because the Vikings wore their hearts on their sleeve, unlike the usual royals and nobles we're used to? Besides, what's the harm if we helped them anyway? The twins just want you to change their King's mind, that's all. If he still wants to marry you in the end, it's up to you whether to accept or not," Anna said.

"That's…true,"

"Besides, King Hiccup…is similar to you. I know not literally but you know what I mean," Anna said and Elsa closed her eyes to think about it.

Elsa's power was her magic. Hiccup's was his dragons.

They both wanted to protect the people around them from the misuse of said powers.

To protect the people that he cared about, Hiccup chose isolation, just like she used to.

Hiccup…was afraid, just like she was.

"That's true," Elsa said and she was ashamed. The twins were right; she was similar to Hiccup more than she thought. Perhaps that was why they wanted her help.

"Besides, I know for sure that we would regret not helping them if they were right. What if a rebellion did happen? What if somebody else replaced them? Someone…ruthless," Anna said and Elsa nodded.

If the Vikings came with their dragons to invade her kingdom, it would be her fault.

It was then Elsa came to a realization.

"How…did you…see all of this? I mean I-"

Anna gasped. "I couldn't believe you! I know I'm not as smart as you, but I'm not stupid!"

Elsa's widened in surprise and tried to break free but Anna's hug was stronger. "I didn't mean that!"

Anna giggled and Elsa knew that her sister was kidding. "Just kidding!"

Elsa stopped her struggling and giggled as well.

"Simple, I wasn't angry," Anna answered. "You could have seen it too, you know,"

Elsa sighed and her head slumped in shame. "I took the wrong time to let out all those pent-up anger, didn't I?"

Anna giggled again. "Well, in your defense, it was rare for you to go crazy,"

Elsa elbowed her sister and smiled.

"Anna, you would make a great Queen,"

"Do you believe that?"

"I know it,"

**…**

"Well, what now? We blew it," Ruffnut said and Tuffnut kicked an imaginary pebble away.

"We? She's the one that blew it!" Tuffnut said angrily.

"It wasn't her fault. If Hiccup could get mad, so can she. Besides, she was right. No, everyone was right. We could have done this better," Ruffnut said and Tuffnut clicked his tongue before leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.

"So what now?" Ruffnut asked.

"I don't know, we're dead either way," Tuffnut said when suddenly he saw a fuming Hiccup walking towards them. "Ah shit!"

The twins didn't have much time to reach when Hiccup took the both of them by surprise and pinned to the wall, with his hands gripping their throat.

"What. Did. You. Do?" Hiccup said dangerously. "I thought you said that you don't want to humiliate me, but talking to the Queen behind my back, _again?" _

The twins began to gag as Hiccup's grip grew tighter. They tried to break free but Hiccup was surprisingly strong.

"Hiccup-" Sigurd tried.

"Stay out of this!" Hiccup warned and Sigurd hesitated. "What did you tell her, huh? All of our kingdom's problems? That I couldn't rule my own kingdom!?"

Hiccup was incredibly furious that he was seeing red so much that the thought of choking the twins to death was so tempting at the moment.

It wasn't until a voice distracted him from behind.

"King Hiccup!"

Hiccup still didn't release the twins and tightened his grip even more.

'Fucking great! Now she saw everything too!' Hiccup thought.

"I will not tolerate violence in my presence!" Elsa commanded and frost began to creep on the floor.

Hiccup still didn't respond and everyone waited with bated breath.

"Or what?" Hiccup challenged.

"Or it will be grounds for war. If this is the example you set for your kingdom, then I will perceive your people as threat," Elsa answered the challenge.

Hiccup glared at the twins, as if saying that it was their fault. It took a moment but Hiccup sighed and lowered his head. He then released the twins and began to walk way until Elsa spoke.

"I would like to speak to you," Elsa said and Hiccup stopped. "I _insist," _Elsa said with a commanding tone. She didn't even wait for Hiccup's reply before turning and walked away.

She was the Queen after all.

Hiccup clenched his fists and sighed again before turning to follow the Queen.

Sigurd followed quickly but the twins stayed behind to nurse their throat and regain their strength.

Anna walked towards them with a grin. "You owe me,"

The twins gave her a puzzled look for a second before they understood and smiled.

"Come on, let's see my sister do her magic!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Phew! Glad that was over! Elsa's outburst was the hardest and has been rewritten many times! The first time it made Elsa sounded OOCish and immaturish. Hope this one isn't like that. Oh well.

**Read and Review!**


	10. Chapter 9: How To Checkmate A Black King

**Author's Note: **Guest reader **nathan isaac **ask me how many hits I've had until the previous chapter. I didn't check it to be honest, just the reviews. But as of this chapter, the hits are 34,569 views! That is a lot! Thanks readers!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 9 – How To Checkmate The Black King<strong>

To be a ruler was not easy. There were many things that one need to learn and one of them was how to _conceal._

Of course, when her father taught her to conceal, it doesn't just apply to her powers but also her feelings.

It wasn't that her father wanted her to be a completely emotionless person, oh no. Rather, to conceal what you feel, especially negative feelings was an important trait to have when you are the ruler.

You were disgusted by foreign food or culture? Don't let it show in front of their representatives or risk insulting them.

Your kingdom is on fire? Feel free to panic but do it on the _inside. _Don't let your people know you're panicking or it will only add to the chaos.

Queen Elsa of Arendelle was quite good when it comes to conceal what she felt and thought on the _outside. _Most people would be fooled by her performance. The keyword here was _most._

The Queen of Arendelle was calmly walking towards her study, with Kai following a few steps behind and her guests lagging far behind. On the outside, she looked normal as if doing her usual Queenly duties.

But on the inside…

'What on earth am I going to do!?' Elsa thought. 'How am I going to convince King Hiccup?'

You can't blame Elsa for panicking. After all, it wasn't like every day she has to advice fellow rulers on how to run their kingdom. Said fellow rulers have their own advisors for that. That and they don't come out in the open that they need to be told on such matters.

Added to the fact that, Elsa thought that she wasn't the best person to do this. After all, she has been a Queen for at most what, two years?

Still, she has agreed to tackle this matter. The wonderful question was of course, _how?_

She could just be blunt and straight to the point.

"_King Hiccup! The way you are running your kingdom is wrong! You must do as I say!"_

Elsa envisioned the scenario. She wasn't going to say it like that of course.

"_Why should I listen to you? You're not my Queen!" _

That was what Elsa thought King Hiccup would say.

But then her mind decided to venture off track for a moment with a single thought.

"_My Queen!"_

Elsa blushed as she remembered her dream she had of the Vikings.

The Queen then shook her head to clear the treacherous thoughts away. He wasn't interested, was what she told herself.

Elsa's train of thought then returned to its original tracks and she inwardly sighed.

If she did went straight to the point, King Hiccup's response would be just like that.

'It would be spot-on, given his state of mind,' Elsa thought.

It was then that Elsa realized that she would need another approach. But again, the question was, what kind of approach?

Before she could think of anything however, she has arrived in front of her study with Kai at the door.

"Your Majesty," Kai nodded and opened the door for her. Elsa returned the nod but didn't enter just yet.

"King Hiccup, please enter and make yourself comfortable. I will be following you shortly," Elsa said and gestured into her study and King Hiccup just gave her a blank look for a moment before entering and Kai closed the door.

Sigurd, the bodyguard didn't follow, thankfully. Elsa was about to tell him that she needed to speak with his King alone. What Sigurd did next caught Elsa off guard.

"Good luck," he said slowly, not wanting his King to hear him. Sigurd then went a few feet away, crossed his arms and leaned on the wall.

The twins approached her with a soft smile. "Thank you," they said softly and Elsa shook his head.

"Don't thank me yet," Elsa said with a smile. "And I apologize for my outburst earlier,"

Tuffnut waved an arm at her. "Nah, it's our fault anyway," he said and the twins went towards Sigurd.

As if on cue, Anna approached her next. "So, are you ready?" Anna asked and Elsa sighed.

"I don't know how to do this Anna," Elsa asked. "I know for sure that he wouldn't listen if I went straight to the point,"

"Of course he would, silly!" Anna answered. "You don't stoke the fire to put it out! Instead, _cool _him down,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at her and Anna only gave her a devious grin.

Then, slowly, Elsa mirrored her sister's grin.

**…**

The royal study was a beautiful room, Hiccup noted. This was the first royal study that he ever had the chance to be in and perhaps, the last.

Hiccup sighed and went towards the window overlooking the town. Arendelle was indeed a beautiful place but that wasn't what on his mind currently. He was busy thinking of what should he do or say to the Queen.

If he guessed it correctly, the twins knew that he won't simply change his mind just by coming here. Thus, the twins decided to gain the Queen's help instead. And it seems that they have succeeded.

Now the Queen might be coming any moment to…to do what, exactly? Lecture him? Give lessons and tips on how to run a kingdom? Advise him?

'Great, another one trying to tell me how to do stuff. Next thing you know, everybody's going to tell me this and that,' Hiccup thought.

No, he doesn't need any more people telling him what to do, especially from an outsider that doesn't have dragons included in her kingdom.

He would just apologize for his behaviour during his stay and excuse himself before she would even have the chance to speak. Even if she still insist on him staying, he would still leave.

Hiccup then heard the sound of the door being opened and he sighed as he steeled himself.

Hiccup turned around and began his move. "Your Majesty-"

SMACK!

Only to have his face pelted by a snowball.

'What,' was the only that came to his mind.

**…**

'Oh my,' Elsa thought as she watched the snowball that she threw hit the Viking King square in the face.

'Oh my!' Elsa thought again. That…was a bold thing for her to do, for she had just practically ambushed the Viking King with a snowball.

The Viking King then slowly brought his hand to his face and oh, ever so slowly, he wiped the snow away.

"What is the-"

Elsa conjured a snowball and threw it at his face again.

'Oh my gosh!' Elsa thought. Her face was the epitome of calm but on the inside, she was feeling excited! It was just like when she was doing something that she wasn't supposed to do like breaking the rules with Anna sometimes.

The Viking King reacted more quickly this time. He wiped his face clean and brought his other hand to shield him from future attack.

Elsa responded by conjuring multiple snowballs, levitated them in the air, and pelted the Viking King continuously.

SMACK! SMACK!

"Hey-hey!" King Hiccup said as he tried in vain to stop the snow onslaught.

SMACK!

This wasn't going too well for Hiccup. First he was tricked by his subordinates twice, then had his shortcomings as a ruler told to the Snow Queen and now, the Snow Queen herself was humiliating him.

Hiccup's anger reached his boiling point and he screamed. "STOP IT!"

Elsa was startled by the cry and immediately stop her assault. She then stared into a set of furious green eyes that reminded her of the Viking King in her dream.

Fear began to creep into her being as she was reminded of the man that conquered dragons, united the Vikings and…didn't fear her.

The both of them were silent for a while until Hiccup closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then opened his eyes and began to spoke. "Look, Queen Elsa, I don't know what you're trying to do, but I'm not in the mood for it,"

Elsa was silent as she thought of her next move. Hiccup thought that he was winning the battle and was about to speak again when Elsa cut him off.

"I noticed. So you're angry," Elsa tried and Hiccup rolled his eyes at the obvious statement.

"Thank you for noticing," Hiccup said and was about to move away from the window when Elsa spoke again.

"Angry at who? Why?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup glared at the Queen. 'Is she playing with me? She damn well know why!' Hiccup thought.

"It's not your business," Hiccup replied and Elsa crossed her arms.

"I believe it is. Are you angry at my kingdom? Did we do something wrong to offend you?" Elsa asked and Hiccup took a deep breath before answering.

"No. You…did nothing wrong," Hiccup hesitantly answered and Elsa knew why. Hiccup didn't want to imply that she had something to do with his anger.

"Then is your anger to me or my kingdom justified?" Elsa asked again and Hiccup's eyes widened at this. She was right, Hiccup's cause of anger wasn't because of her.

Her cold logic was like as if an icicle had speared through Hiccup's chest.

'Ouch,' he internally cringed.

"No…" Hiccup looked away, too ashamed to look at her.

Elsa smiled. She had read a lot of books during her isolation years and anger management was one of them (which helped her a lot back then).

One of the way to beat anger was logic. Make them see reason why their anger was bad. Another was to use shame. Of course, this was a risky move. The shame must be appropriate and as well as not to use too much of it or it will backfire horribly.

"And I had no part in your emissaries' plan beforehand. I only knew it after you left us at lunch. If anything, I'm the victim here as I was used as a pawn!" Elsa said, this time with more confidence in her voice.

Another stab of figurative icicle and Hiccup's head lowered. 'Ouch again,'

"So is it fair then for you to be angry and rude at my kingdom when we did our best to be hospitable?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup felt the stab of another icicle and his shoulder slumped. 'Urgh!'

Elsa smiled at this. She was doing well! Now that she had caused an avalanche, it cannot be stopped!

"And don't get me wrong! I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for my kingdom. I won't have my guests be unhappy during their stay here! It would be bad for my kingdom's reputation to be known as a bad host," Elsa answered, which was in a way true.

Another icicle went through him. 'Damn it!'

Hiccup felt like a self-absorbed jerk if he thought that what the Queen did was only for him. At this point, Hiccup fell to his knees.

"It's not like I'm going to blab anyway," Hiccup said softly, his flames of anger was dissipated by the Queen's _coldness._

"Perhaps, but it didn't change the fact that you're still angry," Elsa said. "If you're angry at your _own _people and kingdom, then be angry at home! Since that you don't have a valid reason to be angry at my kingdom, then I suggest that you stop being angry here!" Elsa practically commanded.

At this point, Hiccup felt like he was buried in an avalanche as he got on all fours. Elsa was right in every way. Hiccup's anger was misplaced. In his fury, he had been nothing but a stick in the ass towards his hosts, who had done nothing wrong.

Hiccup was many thing, but being an undeserving jerk (or just a jerk) towards anyone, especially a girl was not his style.

"Please…just kill me already," Hiccup croaked from the embarrassment that he felt.

Elsa giggled and with a wave of a hand, dumped a pile of snow on Hiccup's head.

Hiccup didn't respond and this had Elsa worried.

"So, have you _cooled _your head then?" Elsa asked. Hiccup sighed and got to his knees again. Their eyes then made contact with each other again.

"Yeah, I guess," Hiccup shrugged with a soft smile.

It was the first time Elsa had seen a smile adorned Hiccup's face. Suddenly, Elsa felt a blush creeping on her neck and her heart beat rised.

She was right; Hiccup looked more beautiful with a smile than frown.

'Stop it! Don't fall for someone that won't like you back!' Elsa chided herself.

Elsa looked away to stop herself from getting even more red. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this and suddenly, he had an idea.

SMACK!

Elsa stood still as a statue as her mind tried to comprehend what had happened. A snowball had just hit her on her face!

Elsa turned to find the culprit, only to find him hiding behind her study desk. She saw a head with a devious grin pop out for a second…

'Oh my,' Elsa thought, as she found herself distracted by the rather…_sexy _grin.

SMACK! SMACK!

Only to have her face and chest pelted by snowballs.

"What's the matter, _Snow Queen? _You can dish out the _cold _but you can't take them?" a voice taunted her.

Elsa grinned. "The cold never bothered me anyway!"

Elsa waved her arm and soon snowballs appeared on her side as well as Hiccup's.

"Well, I should tell you, we Vikings are the sons of snow!" Hiccup replied and they began pelting each other with snowballs.

Soon the royal study was filled with laughter and the sound of snowballs hitting various surfaces of the room. This would go on for a few minutes, as the both of them tried to hit each other with snowballs. So far, Hiccup had the advantage as he was protected by her desk while she was out in the open.

It didn't stop them from having fun, however.

'Oh my! How did it come to this?' Elsa thought. 'Well, I did ambushed him first!'

"Get out of there and face me like a man!" Elsa said with a laughter as she tried to attack Hiccup.

"And what, let go of my only advantage I have against the _Snow Queen?_" Hiccup replied.

And he was right, the cover was proving to be effective against her.

Elsa then smiled, only to have it covered by a snow.

"I see that you really like the snow!" Hiccup said with a grin.

Elsa wiped the snow off from her face and grinned.

Elsa waved her hand and suddenly a large pile of snow materialized on top of Hiccup and fell on him.

"Gah!"

Elsa's grin grew larger. She waved her hand again and the pile of snow moved away from the desk and stopped under a window, carrying its victim along.

Hiccup's head popped from the snow pile and shook his head off from the snow. He couldn't free his body, however.

"You didn't really think you can beat the _Snow Queen _with her own element, do you?" Elsa asked and Hiccup let out a short laugh.

His laughter vibrated well within Elsa and she found out that she _liked_ his laughter.

"Point made. But you can't blame me for trying," Hiccup replied.

Elsa smiled. "True. Now, I've won our little skirmish and I believe that you...are my prisoner of war," Elsa said, still high with the positive rush of their snowball fight. "So what should I do to you, I wonder?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her. "Eh?"

Suddenly, Anna's face flashed in Elsa's mind. She grinned and with a wave of her hand, the pile of snow covering Hiccup shifted towards his hands and arms. The snow then turn to ice and pinned Hiccup's hands to the wall and his leg to the floor, leaving his torso exposed to the Snow Queen.

The Viking King has indeed became the Snow Queen's prisoner of war.

Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Wha-what did you have in mind actually?"

Elsa gave a sly smile and with a predatory gleam in her eyes, she sauntered towards Hiccup rather _slowly. _Hiccup's eyes widened at this and felt his heartbeat raising and a blush creeping up his neck.

Had Elsa worn her Snow Queen dress, the effect on Hiccup would be much greater.

"Uh...uh…Queen Elsa?" Hiccup nervously said as he squirmed to break free of his icy bonds.

Elsa reached Hiccup's side and stood tall over him. Seeing the Viking King bound at her mercy, _squirming _no less and to hear him calling her _Queen _gave her a wonderful feeling.

She felt _confident, empowered _and...a bit excited.

'Oh my! What a compromising situation we are in,' Elsa thought. 'Should I stop?'

It wasn't like she did this with all the suitors that had met her. This was perhaps, a once in a lifetime chance.

'On a second thought, no,' Elsa thought and crouched gracefully (with both of her legs closed, of course) in front of Hiccup. Hiccup, in all his life, had never seen such a graceful creature such as Elsa before.

Elsa put her left hand on her knee while her right hand tapped her chin, as if pondering a question.

"I wonder, is the Viking King…ticklish?" Elsa asked sultrily.

"Eeh?" Hiccup blurted. "I-I believe he is!"

"Believe? It seems that the Viking King himself isn't sure. Maybe I should try and see if he really is ticklish, hmm?" Elsa said with a devious grin.

Hiccup's eyes widened at this. "No no no! I mean, he is ticklish! So-so you don't have to tickle him or anything!"

"Oh! The Viking King is indeed ticklish? This, I have to see," Elsa said and brought her hands towards Hiccup.

"Wait wait wait! We don't have to do this!"

However, his words fell on deaf ears as the Snow Queen proceeded to tickle him mercilessly. Soon, the royal study was filled with laughter once again.

**…**

Kristoff, ever since meeting the Royal Sisters, had another role aside from being the Royal Icemaster and Deliverer. That role was to babysit Olaf the Snowman when foreign dignitaries came to Arendelle and practically, keep him out of their sight.

It wasn't because they were embarrassed of the cheerful Snowman, oh no. It was because of the implications that could arise when seeing a _living and sentient snowman _that was created by a human.

They had agreed that most of the world would not understand and accept Elsa's special talent. If Elsa wasn't royalty, she might have been burned at the stake instead of sitting on a throne. Of course, that still doesn't dispel the fear that people had of her.

The fear…was well founded to those that weren't use to it or hadn't known the Snow Queen. Able to conjure snow and ice from almost nothing? Create ices that doesn't behave like normal ice should? Freeze people magically?

Of course, people tolerated it because it was still within their acceptable range of comprehension and acceptance of things. But able to create a life?

The religious fanatics would cry for her to be put down in the name of their god.

Which was funny; if Elsa had lived hundreds years in the past, she would be worshipped as a goddess instead.

And so, Kristoff had the important role of making sure that Olaf doesn't stray and met foreign dignitaries, which proved to be harder than it sounds. This was because Olaf, by nature, doesn't like to be alone if he can help it.

It wasn't surprising as she was created from Elsa's desire for _warmth _and human contact.

Usually, when the foreign dignitaries came, Kristoff would send Olaf with the trolls. The trolls were more than enough to keep Olaf busy for the whole day until Kristoff came to pick him up. Funnily enough, that would make the trolls babysitters themselves, and he was the proof.

Now, usually Kristoff would send Olaf early and would be back for meals with the Royal Sisters and their guests.

Kristoff didn't like having meals with foreign dignitaries. They would give him weird looks as if questioning why he was there in the same room as them. Of course, that was why he needed to be there as Elsa had told him; to remind them who he is and who he will be.

Kristoff smiled. Although Elsa didn't say it outright, Kristoff understood it; Elsa had given her blessing to be with Anna.

Anyway, back to the matter. Because of the Vikings sudden arrival this morning, Kristoff didn't have time to make it back for lunch and he hope nothing bad had happened. He arrived at the castle and instantly asked where the Royal Sisters was. Luckily, they were still in the castle and Kristoff found Anna soon enough.

Only to see her, the Viking twins, an armored Viking, _Kai and Gerda _of all people, putting their ears on the doors of the royal study.

Kristoff raised an eyebrow at this and not wanting to startle the eavesdroppers and perhaps, their _victims _inside the royal study, tapped Anna on her shoulder.

Anna turned around and squealed when meeting with Kristoff.

"Kristoff!" Anna said quietly. "You wouldn't believe what happened!"

Kristoff was about to say something when Anna interrupted.

"I'll explain later, for now, just listen!" Anna said and took Kristoff's arm to join in the Royal Eavesdroppers Club.

And sure enough, Kristoff could hear the sounds of Elsa and a man laughing inside the room with the occasional sound of something soft hitting a surface.

"They're having a snowball fight!" Anna almost squealed.

This would go on for a few minutes until a momentary silence followed. And then a full out laughter could be heard.

"Is the Queen…tickling the Viking King?" Gerda asked with a disbelieving look.

Anna nodded furiously with a proud look. She then puffed her chest. "I'm proud of you sister!"

Kristoff could only roll his eyes with a smile.

**…**

"You…you _fiend_!" Hiccup said while catching his breath. Being bound and tickled by a royalty was not something he ever expected at all.

Elsa smiled before she broke into a laughter. She had never expected to tickle another royalty before! This certainly was unorthodox to her but fun and refreshing! Not to mention very bold.

Hiccup didn't say anything but instead smiled. He found out that he…kind of like her laugh and was content to enjoy it for as long as he could.

Soon, Elsa's laughing fit was over and she found the Viking King was staring at her with a smile. She blushed and look away before composing herself again. She then released the Viking King from his icy bonds with a flick of her wrist.

"That was fun," Hiccup said.

"It was," Elsa said with a smile. "And now we shall build a snowman!" Elsa clasped her hands together. Her eyes, Hiccup noticed, was shining with anticipation and excitement, just like a child that wanted to play.

Hiccup smiled and decided to have a little bit of fun. "What? Why?" Hiccup asked.

"When you play with snow, snowball fight and building a snowman is a must!" Elsa replied.

"Uh-huh," Hiccup tried his best to look unconvinced and Elsa bought it. "And who says it has to be that way? I'm content with just snowball fight," Hiccup said and Elsa crossed her arms.

"Well, in case you've forgotten, I am the _Snow Queen _after all and thus, my word on everything that is related to snow is the law!" Elsa said with authority.

"That makes sense," Hiccup said.

"Of course it does!" Elsa replied rather childishly.

Hiccup laughed lightly at seeing the childish side of the Snow Queen. Elsa didn't understood why he was laughing and pouted.

In a normal situation, Elsa would have realized how she had acted and would have scolded herself for it. The way she was acting was unbecoming for a Queen. But somehow, right now, she wasn't a Queen with Hiccup.

"Alright, since the Snow Queen says so," Hiccup said "Let's build a snowman!"

Yes, she wasn't the Queen of Arendelle as of the moment but just the Snow Queen Elsa.

The both of them then began to build a snowman in silent. It wasn't the choking silence they had during their lunch, however. It was the good kind of silence as both of them were smiling as they didn't want to risk ruining the moment with words.

After a few minutes, the body of their snowman was complete. They didn't have anything to make the face but Elsa conjured thin stick-like arms made from ice and attached it to the snowman.

Before Hiccup could comment on it, however, Elsa did something that the both of them didn't expect.

Elsa used her hands to animate the arms as if the snowman was alive. She then hid her body as best as she could behind the snowman. Her face was also behind the snowman's head.

"Hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" Elsa said in a different voice.

Hiccup was speechless for a moment at the sight. The silence was enough to make Elsa realized what she had done.

'Oh my!' Elsa thought as she blushed. 'This-this! I've never done this ever since I've created Olaf! This is so embarrassing,'

It was true. She used to animate her snowman by herself when she was little to amuse Anna. But ever since Olaf was given life, she stopped doing it in respect for the real Olaf.

'I must look like a fool!' Elsa thought and she was about to stop what she was doing until she felt a pair of strong arms _hugging _her!

"I...like warm hugs as well….and cuddles," Hiccup said and Elsa blushed.

'Oh my, oh my, oh my!' Elsa thought.

Elsa could count the number of people that had hugged her with the ten fingers on her hand. It wasn't much but Hiccup had made the list.

The both of them broke away and didn't look at each other for a minute before the awkward silence became unbearable.

"Right-right, so that was fun as well!" Hiccup broke the silence and made his trademark hand gestures.

Elsa realized this and giggled. "Yes, yes it was,"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck and was about to stand up. However, Elsa realized this and spoke. "King Hiccup?"

Hiccup stared at her for a moment. "Yes?"

"Can we…talk…about your problems?" Elsa asked and Hiccup's face was marred with a frown.

Hiccup groaned as he rolled his eyes. He thought that Elsa only wanted to cheer him up. It seems that everything he thought about her was wrong.

"Well, I did say I want to have a talk with you, correct? The prior activities were just…_ice breaking,_" Elsa said with a sly smile.

Hiccup sighed. She was right, again. Damn this woman and her logic!

"Besides, I hate to see my effort of cheering you up turns out to be temporary once you return to your home. I would like it to be permanent,_"_ Elsa said.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this and Elsa realized her mistake. She widened her eyes and blushed.

"I-I mean, it's-I-" Elsa stuttered as she tried to make sense of what she want to say and in honesty, herself.

The idea of having some sort of anything that is positively _permanent_ with the Viking King was very tempting. After all, King Hiccup definitely had the most progress with her so far compared to her other suitors.

But then, the fact hit her hard; she barely knew him.

And then she realized; this must what Anna had felt when she first met Hans. The first time of having experienced such a wonderful feeling and not wanting it to go away and then knowing that you might not get another chance?

How hypocrite of her.

What was more, if the other suitors were in the same situation, would she react the same?

Fortunately, while Elsa was warring with herself, so was Hiccup. He could just refuse her help but...

'What would that accomplish? I would still be in the same spot…maybe, we really could talk?' Hiccup thought.

Besides, there was no harm in doing it and Hiccup certainly didn't have anything to lose anyway.

"Alright," Hiccup said and this brought Elsa back to reality. "If it's alright with you, we can discuss my problem,"

Elsa smiled, glad that she didn't have to explain herself for her fumble earlier and that King Hiccup didn't took advantage of it. She was also glad that King Hiccup would finally listen to her.

She had won the battle, but not the war…yet.

"So…how do we do this?" Hiccup asked.

"Well…you don't have tell me from the start. Your twins did a good job at describing your problems," Elsa said. Hiccup groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I bet they do," Hiccup said.

Elsa giggled. "Please don't be mad at them, they have the best intention in mind,"

Hiccup gave Elsa a hard look that surprised her. "A lot of bad deeds were done with good intentions in mind. I am verywell aware of that fact,"

Elsa steeled herself. She thought that after the previous activities, King Hiccup would have lightened a bit and she could approach this matter in a more lighthearted manner. However, it seemed that her _ice breaking _were only able to break the surface.

She was treading on thin ice and she had to tread carefully, lest her effort would be gone to waste.

"That's true. But they did it because they care. If anything, their action mirrored yours. You have the best intentions for your people, but…" Elsa countered.

Hiccup clicked his tongue and looked away. Queen Elsa was right again. If anything, what the twins did was tame compared to what he had done.

Elsa shook her head. "I won't judge you for the actions that you had taken to come this far…and if anything, I don't think I had the qualifications to do so,"

Hiccup turned to look at her with a puzzled look.

"After all, you are a self-made King, whereas I'm a Queen through birthright. I did not experience the hardship that you went through to earn your title," Elsa said.

Hiccup sighed. "What is this? A pity competition to see who went through the most hardship? And then whoever wins gets kisses and huggies for prize?"

Elsa's eyes widened at this. "No! That wasn't-"

"I know what you mean but I don't want…" Hiccup avoided her eyes. "…making me feel that my suffering is greater than others is…it's not, alright? And I don't want to feel entitled for help or anything,"

Elsa's eyes softened at this as she realized that King Hiccup was trying to bear everything alone.

"Besides, what we went through might not be the same, but it doesn't necessarily mean the hardship isn't," Hiccup turned to look at her again. "To become a King is easy, but to keep it? You're certainly more experienced in keeping the throne than I do,"

Hearing that surprised Elsa. King Hiccup thought that what she went through is equal and perhaps greater than his but never less.

That line of thinking was just like…her.

It was then that Elsa was struck by an epiphany. The Snow Queen and the Viking King were mirror images of each other.

Each wanted to bear their burden alone.

They both thought that they're doing everyone that they love a favour by handling the burden alone.

They both thought that what they've went through, was nothing compared to what they had put others through.

Much like the hardship that Elsa had put Anna through, King Hiccup was when he had subjugated his friends and people to war to achieve his ideals.

It was unsettling to watch a mirror image of yourself and trying to fix the imperfections that you see. Perhaps…maybe if she could help the Viking King, she could better herself as well?

Elsa wrung her hands while she was deep in thought and Hiccup noticed this. But he didn't say anything and allowed Elsa her peace.

Soon, Elsa's focus had returned and she turned her attention to the Viking King again. "Well, I've only been Queen for two years,"

Hiccup snorted. "And you've been trained for it your whole life! I was barely the Chief to my tribe before I decided to be King,"

Elsa smiled. She was grateful that King Hiccup didn't allow either of them to win the so-called 'pity contest'. In a way, it made them equal and they didn't have to carefully tread around each other in fear of hurting their feelings.

It means that Elsa could go all out.

"That is indeed true. So that means I _am_ qualified to…_advise _you in such matters, yes?" Elsa said.

King Hiccup's eyes widened at hearing this. He could not back away from this, logically. The only way he could was through…_childish _means akin to a tantrum of a teenager that doesn't want to listen to reason.

Of course, if he did that, it would be embarrassing for someone of his rank.

"You…you set me up!" Hiccup accused.

Elsa smiled innocently. "How could I? I barely knew you, so how could I 'set you up'?" Elsa air quoted.

Hiccup pouted.

'Oh my!' Elsa blushed a bit at seeing the cute moment.

"I set myself up for that, didn't I?" Hiccup sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"I believe so, yes," Elsa replied. Hiccup groaned and took a handful of snow before rubbing it on his face and hair.

Elsa's eyes widened at this. She rarely had the chance to see a man so comfortable with snow before, well aside from Kristoff, that is.

A part of her was…excited by it.

Hiccup sighed in relief before continuing. "Alright…you got me," Hiccup smiled. "Let's discuss my problem,"

Elsa smiled. She feared that she had to tread carefully all the way through during their discussion. However, it seems that her fear was in fact, short lived.

"Alright,"

Elsa couldn't help but to think, 'Checkmate,'

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I've started my study again, which means that updates will be sporadic in the future. The funny thing is, I might be able to update quicker because writing this when I should be studying makes it a form of procrastination, hahaha.

**Read and Review!**


	11. Chapter 10: To Thaw A Frozen Heart III

**Author's Note: **Alright readers! QnA Session!**  
><strong>

Guest reader **Saph: **I understand what you mean. After all, conflicts in any form are what drive a story. But rest assured, something bad will happen…it's just going to take a long while to reach there. It's the calm before the storm, so to speak.

**Hergrim: **I'm glad you like it! About the previous chapter with the Elsa and Hiccup being a bit OOCish, I believe that in my story, it is unavoidable. The reason for it is because although the movie Frozen is about Elsa, the heroine is Anna, thus she gets the most exposure. We didn't know about Elsa as much as Anna and especially after the end of the movie. Since Elsa has grown comfortable with her powers, would she rule as the Snow Queen with a more cheerful attitude or as the serious Queen of Arendelle?

However, I like to think that Elsa got a bit carried away in her plan to cool down Hiccup, hence the snowball fight and tickling. After all, it wasn't like every day she got to do this and when you're doing something fun for the first time, you tend to get carried away (I know I do).

Hiccup's OOCish is because he's older than in the canon materials (even older than in the second movie, which I didn't have a lot of material to expand on currently), so I have expand his character according to my own interpretation and also because of what I've put him through.

And about the straight emotional kick to the gut, true, Elsa could have done that, but I'd think Hiccup would react differently, and perhaps not as positively as what Elsa had done. Sure, it might make Hiccup realize his error, but it will leave a long lasting sour taste in his mouth and he might be too embarrassed to stay at Arendelle any longer than necessary.

That is my reasoning for the OOCish, but I hope that it wasn't so much that the Elsa and Hiccup in my story has become different characters entirely.

**This chapter might contain Hiccup that is (depending on your interpretation), whiny and OOCish. The reason for this is explained in my response for reader ****Hergrim's ****review above. **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 10 – How To Thaw A Frozen Heart III<strong>

"Alright, so how do we do this?" the Viking King asked, not wanting to make the first move. He wanted to see how the Queen would handle this sensitive discussion.

The Snow Queen tapped her chin in consideration while looking away.

Hiccup smiled at this. 'She's cute,' Hiccup thought.

"Well, I could just give you the solution to the problem," Elsa said and Hiccup gave her a skeptical look. "That would be much easier,"

"Really? After all the buildup and the tension, we're just going to skip to the end? No climax at all?" Hiccup questioned and Elsa giggled.

"That's true," Elsa smiled. However, she didn't say anything else for a moment after that and they ended up staring at each other.

The truth was that, Elsa already knew a way to start, but she was afraid that the Viking King might not take it well. A risky move, but it was something that she has to do.

"I can tell that your problem is because you are…" Elsa hesitated to finish.

"Afraid?" Hiccup said with a calm face.

"…yes," Elsa answered. One of the many things that she had learned about ruling was how to properly play by rival rulers' egos. Rulers can be prideful and wars had been waged because of hurt pride. As such, it was important that the Queen did not hurt a foreign ruler's ego on purpose…unless of course, she was insulted first.

Pointing out a ruler's weakness was a very risky move.

Hiccup sighed. "Yeah…I am afraid. I'm afraid of a lot of things,"

Well, they've got this far. Might as well let the cat out of the bag.

Elsa smiled. "Can you tell me?" she said with a soft voice.

Not many would admit their weaknesses and mistakes willingly to repair them. But if they do, then to Elsa, they were not weak.

Hiccup looked down at his hands. "I…I was afraid of the world and my people,"

Elsa's widened at that. 'Afraid of his own people?' the Queen thought. Back then, Elsa was also afraid of the world but she was also afraid _for _her people.

Afraid of hurting them.

Elsa then remembered what the twins had told her and she understood. However, she wanted to hear Hiccup's own words.

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked. Hiccup sighed and started to gather snow in his hands.

"You know, when you ride a dragon, when you can _fly," _Hiccup placed a small sphere of snow on the ground and began to gather more snow. "The world becomes a lot bigger,"

Hiccup placed another small sphere of snow on top of the previous one he had built. Elsa realized that he was building a snowman.

"I wanted to explore the world, to see what was out there," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded.

In her years of isolation, there were many times that she wished she could have just…_let it all go _and explore the world outside of her castle. Of course, she couldn't do that and books became the means for her to explore the world instead.

"And I found out that the world was cruel and scary," Hiccup said as he finished his first miniature snowman.

Elsa was silent. She knew that fact, but only from the experience of others. She had heard of slavery, pillaging and other heinous acts against humanity but had never seen it happen in front of her eyes.

Hiccup was reluctant to continue. "What…did you see?" Elsa asked, egging Hiccup to go on. It was needed, for both of them.

Hiccup continued making more little snowmen. "A lot of things," he shrugged. "I've seen trail of bodies in the ocean. At first I thought that it was a shipwreck. But then I found out that those bodies were dumped from slave ships,"

Elsa's eyes widened at this.

"I found entire village oppressed by stronger forces for the resources on their land. I found how far man would go for greed," Hiccup continued.

"_People are what they love, Hiccup. And what they love is cargo. They love spices, and linens, and silks. And as long as it is delivered on time and in sufficient supply, then they are content, to be nothing more than figures on a ledger,"_

"_My, my, my! Such a beautiful and powerful beast! And from the looks of it, you managed to tame it? My, oh my, this changes everything. You and I, Sir Hiccup, can have a wonderful future together. What say you?"_

Hiccup remembered the conversation he had with the unsavory people he encountered during his travels.

"And then I met the man that would be my friend and eventually, enemy," Hiccup said sadly.

Elsa understood who it was. "Varin Hafrson,"

Hiccup nodded. "It's…sometimes I wished I never met him at all. He was as afraid as I am of the world. Because of that, we feed each other's fears and it grew,"

"What kind of person was he?" Elsa dared to ask about this person that was integral to Hiccup's past.

Hiccup smiled sadly. "He was…a hiccup like me," Hiccup said. "He was a good man at heart and he had good intentions but…"

_"The road to hell is paved with good intentions,"_

'I guess we all started with good intentions,' Hiccup thought.

Hiccup's smile faded as he finished another snowman. "Do you know he was a slave since he was fourteen? The same age as when I first learned that dragons can be tamed,"

Elsa's eyes widened. "And you've met him only a few years ago?"

Hiccup nodded. "He was forced to fight other people's war, forced to do heinous things to people that didn't harm him, forced to become something that he wasn't,"

"_Why are you helping me?" Hiccup asked the man in front of him._

"_Because I'm a Viking like you," the man said._

_Hiccup gave him a skeptical look. The man, Malcolm, didn't look like a Viking at all._

"_My name is Varin Hafrson," the man told Hiccup._

"_I thought your name is Malcolm?" Hiccup asked again._

"_My master didn't like my name, or my 'savage' background," _

"After all the things that he went through, he still had a good heart,"

"_I'm a monster, Hiccup. I've been a slave…and now I'm a slaver. And all of it for what!? Spices!? Fabrics!? Do you know how many people suffered and died for-for a crate of those things!? And I…had a part in it,"_

"But in the end, we both were consumed by our fear,"

"_These men, they will not stop to get what they want! Once they know of the dragons, they will come and take everything! And they won't ask nicely…" Varin said._

"But although we both feared the world, when it comes to our people, our fear was different. And at this point, our idea on what we should do diverged," Hiccup said. "Varin feared for our people. I feared of them, of what they could become,"

"_You can't hide forever Hiccup! They will come one day and the only way to stop them is to attack them! Prevention rather than cure!" _

"_I'll hide them for as long as I can! What you want to do will turn our people into the very people that you hate!"_

_Varin looked betrayed but he still didn't want to back down._

"_I'm doing this for our people!"_

"_Are you!? Or are you just doing this to redeem yourself from what they made you do, from what they turn you into!?"_

Elsa pursed her lips before asking again. "What do you mean?" Elsa already knew the answer, but she want and need to know from Hiccup himself.

Hiccup sighed. He was building his seventh snowman now. "Before I went exploring, the Vikings fought against dragons and each other,"

"At first, to me it was a normal thing. Low on food? We'd go raiding rival tribes," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a worried look.

"You could say that I was very fortunate that my clan was one of the nicest ones. We didn't raid unless it was truly necessary, we were rather receptive to the dragons and we didn't use them to conquer other tribes," Hiccup explained.

'Until he decided to become King,' Elsa thought and Hiccup shared the same sentiment.

"But when I came back with Varin, I finally saw the reality behind it," Hiccup said. "I remembered the day when our clan was raided instead,"

"They knew we had dragons so they chose to attack during a heavy blizzard where it was too dangerous to fly," Hiccup continued. "Most of the young members of our clan was kidnapped,"

"When we mounted a counterattack…we found out what happened to them, especially the girls…" Hiccup couldn't finish but Elsa had a nagging feeling she knew what happened.

"I-I'm sorry," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"Of course, that was the eye opener, so to speak. When we saw what happened to them and the other casualties from our tribes, we swore bloody revenge. At that time, all we saw was red," Hiccup continued.

"After it was done, the aftermath was horrible. And it was done by my clan, my people," Hiccup closed his eyes as he remembered that day.

_His friends was covered in blood and they were silent with their rage. Astrid's hair was red instead of his favourite golden. The twins didn't joke around. Snotlout didn't brag at all. _

_And his hands was red with blood. Hiccup turned to look at the bloodied body of one his kidnapped clan members. _

'_It could be Astrid,' he thought. 'It could be one of us,'_

'_But instead of becoming the victim, we became the monsters,' _

_It was at this point that Hiccup realized their innocence from their early days was gone._

_What they did and what the other tribes did to them was considered normal in the Viking's way of life._

_But was it right? _

"Isn't it strange?" Hiccup asked her with a smile. "I'm more worried about what could my people turn into, instead of what could happen to them,"

"_You're more afraid of what our people could become? Rather than what could happen to them? You're a fool!"_

Elsa was silent as she didn't think she could answer when the time comes for it. Would she rather her people die as humans or live as monsters?

"I saw the cruelty of the outside world and I see it in my people," Hiccup looked away. "And keeping them away from the world seemed like the best option,"

'Seemed?' Elsa thought and she realized, Hiccup was also looking for a way out.

"And that's the end of the shortest version of my story," Hiccup stopped building any more snowmen and looked at her again, this time with a sad smile.

"So…what do you think?" Hiccup asked and Elsa returned a small smile.

"I…would like to tell you my story as well. Unfortunately, it is the shortest version as well," Elsa said and Hiccup's smile grew a little bit.

"Fair enough," he shrugged.

"Well…you've already known that I was born with my…"

'Curse? Blessing?' Elsa thought.

"…powers," Elsa continued and Hiccup nodded. "My parents didn't allow me to use it outside of the castle and even then when indoors, I could only use it secretly. At first, I thought it was a wonderful thing to have. However, after an incident that involved the well being of my sister, I grew afraid it,"

"I was also afraid of the world and afraid of and for my people. I was afraid of harming them and afraid of being harm by them as well. You could guessed what their reactions were when my powers were accidently exposed," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"However," Elsa smiled. "My sister, my wonderful, courageous sister, Anna…she never feared me. Never gave up on me even after all the pain I've caused her. Never stopped believing in me, and showed me that I'm not alone,"

Hiccup was silent, waiting for her to continue. "I isolated myself for 13 years because of fear. Fear of the outside world, fear of myself, fear of trying something else and because of that, I've caused considerable pain to my family, lost precious time that could be spent with them and many more,"

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Yes, 13 years," Elsa nodded with a smile.

"What I've learned was that fear...they won't go away by hiding. To be afraid was inevitable. To stay afraid, is by choice,"

"Children learn that there are no monsters hiding in their closet when they opened the closet doors for themselves," Elsa continued. "Hiding from the world won't make the fear go away,"

Hiccup looked away. "So I'm a coward then,"

Elsa leaned forward to touch his hand. This made Hiccup turned to look at her again.

Elsa shook her head. "You are brave and courageous. Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. You must have been afraid when you decided to unite your people,"

Hiccup's eyes widened as he remembered the day he decided to become King.

_**...~...**_

_"Everyone," Hiccup addressed his whole tribe in front of him._

_The time was now. The moment of truth._

_Hiccup's hand was shaking with nervousness and fear. He tried to hide it by balling it into fists but it wasn't working._

_This was harder than telling his dad the truth about the dragons._

_Suddenly, he felt a warm hand holding his hand and he saw Astrid. She nodded at him with a soft smile._

_It didn't dispel the fear entirely, but it was enough. Hiccup returned the smile._

_"I don't want to become the Chief...__I want to become the King of every Viking!" Hiccup stated and everyone was quiet._

_"Are you joking?" Snotlout broke the silence. "You barely wanted to become Chief! Heck, you barely a Chief and now you wanted to become the Chief of all Chiefs?"_

_Hiccup stared at Snotlout and then turned his gaze on everyone who was silent. Years ago, they would laugh at him, but now…_

_"Yes. I want to be king not because I crave for power! Or just because I feel that I can! I want to be king so that we don't have to fight and hurt and kill each other anymore! I don't want to live in fear everyday knowing that we might be attacked by fellow Vikings. To be attacked and raided for what!? For food that we barely have enough for ourselves? For our meager resources? For our children and women!?_

_I don't want to live in fear knowing that I might not see the faces of the people that I care anymore when we are attacked!_

_We don't have to live this way! No more raiding other tribes when we can help each other! No more taking when we can give! No more unnecessary deaths and suffering!" Hiccup said with voice full of confidence._

_The crowd was still silent._

_"I know we could be stronger! I know we could be better! And I want better! From all of us, and for all of you! So, I ask you, my family, friends and people! Will you condemn yourself to this endless loop of pain and suffering!?_

_Or will you stand by my side and change the history of our people forever!?" Hiccup finished._

_The crowd roared with approval._

_**...~...**  
><em>

"You must have been afraid during your journey to become the King for your people,"

"_You can't win against me, Hiccup! Against us!" Varin gestured to the people behind him. "I have fought WARS. You?_

_You are afraid of the world and want to hide from it. We want to tame it! Can your peace loving people fight against us!?" Varin claimed._

_Hiccup felt fear creeping in his being at seeing the manic look on Varin's face and the bloodthirsty look on the enemy Vikings._

"And you're still afraid right now," Elsa said and Hiccup gave her a pained look.

"I am," Hiccup answered. "I still am because…I lost the source of my courage, the reason why I can be brave"

Tears began to gather in his eyes and Elsa understood.

'Astrid Hofferson,' Elsa thought and her heart pained as well for many reasons.

"But Hiccup, she can't be your only source of courage," Elsa said. "I…I used to think that Anna was my only courage…that if I lost her, then I would lose everything,"

"But that isn't true. I have many reason to be brave. I have to be brave for my people, for my friends and for what I believe in," Elsa said and she wiped Hiccup's tears away.

"Please Hiccup, remember why you are brave. Please…remember what is more important to you than your fears. Please remember that you are not alone, that many people want to see you to be brave again. You were brave before. Please do so again. Please…be braver," the Snow Queen smiled and she hugged the Viking King.

"I…I," Hiccup tried to find words to say but failed.

Elsa tightened her hug and it wasn't long until Hiccup hugged her back. Hiccup then felt Elsa began to slowly stroke his hair.

The comforting gesture calmed him and Hiccup closed his eyes to remember why, he was brave enough to do what he did.

_**...~...**_

_"Hiccup, why did you want to do this?" a voice on his chest asked as he was counting the stars._

_"Hm? Watching the stars? Well, it is romantic and relaxing and-" Hiccup answered and he received a slap on his chest in response._

_"Not this, silly!"_

_Hiccup chuckled. "Alright, then what it is?"_

_"Why do you want to be King?" Astrid asked and Hiccup was silent for a while._

_"I'm afraid," Hiccup started. "I'm afraid of losing you, my family, my friends, the people that I care about,"_

_"And yet you risk losing us with this plan of yours," Astrid stated and Hiccup bit his lip. Sensing his silence, Astrid brought his face close to Hiccup's._

_"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Astrid apologized._

_"No-no, you're right," Hiccup said and looked away, the logic of it hurt him._

_"And you're also right!" Astrid grabbed Hiccup's face to look at him again._

_"I know…but it's hard," Hiccup said and Astrid smiled._

_"The right thing to do is always the hardest," Astrid smiled and she leaned in. "And good things never come easy,"_

_They both shared a kiss that wasn't filled with passion or lust, but of innocence and love._

_Astrid broke the kiss and Hiccup smiled._

_"I agree, completely," Hiccup sighed before continuing. "Thank you Astrid, for being with me. I wouldn't know what I would do without you,"_

_"You'd be a wreck," Astrid teased and Hiccup gave her a soft smile._

_"Yeah, yeah I would," Hiccup replied and Astrid gave him a worried look._

_"What did I do to deserve you Astrid," Hiccup tried to cup her cheek but Astrid bat his hand away._

_"Don't say that Hiccup!" Astrid said and rose to her feet._

_"What? Why? What's wrong?" Hiccup rose to his feet but Astrid turned her back on him._

_"If anything…I don't deserve you," Astrid uncharacteristically said and hugged her arms._

_"Whaaaaaaat? Where did this come from?"_

_Astrid was silent for a moment until she heard Hiccup closing in._

_"Do you remember the day when I found out about your secret?" Astrid asked._

_"...yeah? Why?"_

_"What were you doing before I stopped you? What did you want to do if I didn't come?" Astrid asked again._

_"I…I," Hiccup remembered. "I wanted to run away, to leave Berk forever,"_

_"You see Hiccup!?" Astrid turned around to face him and Hiccup could see sadness on her face. "You were willing to leave everything behind! At first, I didn't thought of it. But when you were unconscious after your fight with the Red Death…it occurred to me…"_

_"Nobody in the village understood you. You were an outcast. Your father didn't know what to do with you that he stopped trying. Gobber tried with his own way…the kids treated you like dirt. I treated you like dirt!" tears were pooling in her eyes._

_"Astrid…" Hiccup tried to reach her but Astrid backed away._

_"And the only friend that understood you that time was a dragon! If I wasn't there…if I wasn't so selfish…if I tried to understand…" tears slid down her cheeks and Hiccup lunged at her, giving her no chance to refuse him._

_"Hey, hey…come on…you did nothing wrong," Hiccup tried to console her._

_"Of course you would think that. You're so self-depreciating that you'd think everything is your fault!" Astrid replied._

_"Eh…couldn't argue with that," Hiccup shrugged and Astrid giggled._

_"Idiot," Astrid stopped crying and pushed away from him softly. "You could have just let me go back then…but instead you chase after me. You could have just leave after our flight, but you came back. Why?"_

_"Well, to be honest, Toothless was the one that wanted to chase after you," Hiccup grinned and Astrid punched his shoulder._

_"Alright, alright. Well, at that time, I had nothing to lose anyway so why not try to convince you? And when it worked, when you were convinced, I knew I had chance with everyone else," Hiccup explained._

_"And…when we were having our flight together, you, Toothless and I were so happy. It showed that we don't have to kill dragons to be happy. And then we met that Red Death, I knew that I couldn't just ran away alone and let the dragons and the people that I care about to suffer alone,"_

_Astrid shook her head with a smile. "You see Hiccup? If anything, we don't deserve you. Any other person that was in your boots would just leave, but you didn't. And after all we have done to you, you just…forgive so easily,"_

_"Well, I almost forgot about it too but thanks anyway for bringing that up," Hiccup grinned and Astrid punch his shoulder again._

_"Okay, okay!" Hiccup chuckled. "I mean sure, I could ask for retribution and all that but I when I woke up seeing the happy atmosphere, I just…well, I don't want to ruin it just because I deserved to be selfish," Hiccup said._

_Astrid smiled again and hugged his chest. "Gods, Hiccup, you are a piece of work; do you know that? You are the softest and most sensitive Viking alive,"_

_Hiccup pouted._

_"But because of that, it makes you the bravest and strongest Viking alive,"_

_"You forgot the smartest," Hiccup added._

_"And also that," Astrid giggled and nuzzled Hiccup's neck, making him growl. The sound and vibration excited her but she wasn't finished._

_Astrid turned to look at Hiccup._

_"Hiccup, you're stronger and braver than what you think, than what you give yourself credit for. Your strength and courage…is more than just me," Astrid said and Hiccup gave her a worried look._

_"Ast-"_

_Astrid placed a finger on his lips._

_"Hiccup, there are times when you will be afraid, and it's okay. I get afraid too. And sometimes, it's alright to be afraid. It makes you realize what's important. After all, if you weren't afraid, Toothless wouldn't be alive, right?" Astrid said and Hiccup smiled. Astrid then took Hiccup's hands into hers._

_"But, you can't be afraid forever. You will have to be brave for me and for everyone that's afraid," Astrid continued. "Do you see what you accomplished when you were brave? You get to ride dragons and get a shot to be the king,"_

_Hiccup chuckled._

_"Promise me Hiccup, that you'll never stop being you," Astrid asked and Hiccup gave her a soft smile._

_"You'll have to give me a guideline on how to be me, because you know about me more than I do," Hiccup said and Astrid giggled._

_"Hopeless romantic," Astrid sighed. "What makes Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third? Well, it's hard to describe him,"_

_Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"_

_"Hmm...to start...you're a coward, yet it makes you braver. You're an optimistic but sometimes, you can be such a pessimist that it's annoying. You're stubborn and yet…"_

_Hiccup grinned._

_"You operate on logic and yet you're illogical. You see everything differently and yet…you didn't see at all,"_

_"That…I don't know what to make of it," Hiccup scratched the back of his head._

_Astrid smiled. "I told you that you're a piece of work,"_

_"But what I do know about you that is absolute is that you never gave up. You never gave up on what you believe in. You never gave up on us. You never gave up believing in people, in their kindness and their potential,"_

_Astrid's smile turned sad. "Hiccup, I know that the world and our people scare you…but please, never give up on them. They are not as bad as you think,"_

_Hiccup gave her a sad look. "How would you know?" Astrid didn't follow him during his travels, so she didn't experience it._

_Astrid gave him a happy smile. "Because I believe. I believe that there are good people out there that's worth to be brave for. That is what I learn from you,"_

**...~...**

Hiccup's mind then returned to the present and he smiled at the rare positive memory he had been able to remember about Astrid.

'Astrid was right…but it's hard to do. I can't just suddenly decide to be brave...' Hiccup thought.

"_I have many reason to be brave. I have to be brave for my people, for my friends and for what I believe in,"_

'Everyone...for what I believe in,' Hiccup mused.

_**...~...**_

_"Sigurd, thanks for saving my ass back there," Hiccup said as he brought two tankards of mead._

_Sigurd smiled. "That is my job after all,"_

_Hiccup shrugged with a smile. "And you're doing great at it,"_

_Hiccup handed Sigurd a tankard and The Viking gratefully accepted it. They both drank in silence for a while before Hiccup decided break the silence._

_"So…can I ask you a question?" Hiccup asked and Sigurd shrugged. "Why fight for me? Your whole tribe was against me but yet you…you turned to me in an instant,"_

_Sigurd grinned. "Doubting my loyalty, my Liege?"_

_Hiccup returned the grin. "No. It's just that you're more than you look. Can you blame me for being curious?"_

_Sigurd shrugged before he sighed. "Well…to start…" Sigurd swirled the contents of his tankard. "I'm a weak coward,"_

_Hiccup spit his drink. "Whaaaaat? You? Ridiculous!"_

_Sigurd laughed. "No, it's true. In battle, I'm not weak and not a coward, but outside?" Sigurd shook his head._

_"I hated raids because…" Sigurd hesitated._

_Hiccup patted his back. "I understand,"_

_Sigurd smiled sadly. "My mother escaped after I was born the second she had the chance. She didn't even bring me with her and because of that, growing up was not easy. My old man was a good fighter and a good teacher, but not a good father. And you've seen my tribe,"_

_Hiccup nodded._

_"They're bloodthirsty and never afraid. We are after all, known as the bravest tribe around. Anyway, I grew up bigger and stronger than most of them but none of them were afraid of me. And they'll take every chance they could to prove it to me and to the others. Because of this, I...was afraid of them," Sigurd continued._

_"And believe it or not, they could sense the fear in you. And they sensed it in me. Because of this, I was…bullied," Sigurd looked ashamed at that._

_"Hey, I've been through the same," Hiccup assured and Sigurd nodded._

_"I know. But I heard that you never stopped standing up to them," Sigurd said. "I never did until I met you. All of my life I was forced to do things to 'built up courage' so to speak. Things that I wasn't comfortable with,"_

_Sigurd chuckled darkly. "I hated raids, correct? But I never said it to them. There was this one raid, when we attacked my mother's tribe. Do you know what I found? My mother with her new family. She had two children and...they were happy..."_

_Hiccup's eyes widened. What should he say?_

_"My father was with me at that time and he brutally beat her husband to death. Then he told me to kill my mother and her children myself,"_

_Hiccup stayed silent._

_"As much as I hate her for leaving me and for being selfish and no matter how angry I was at that time, I still didn't want to do it. It was wrong. No matter what her sins to me, she's still my mother. And my step-brothers and sisters…they're innocent!"_

_"But I couldn't say no to my father. I was afraid of him and my tribe more than anything. My mother and…her children begged me not to do it, but I…" Sigurd said and he looked away._

_"And the funny thing is, my father still deemed me as weak and nothing changed," Sigurd continued. "Until you came,"_

_"When you announced your plan, my whole tribe laughed and mocked you. They knew you were afraid and I can see it as well. But you pushed on with your belief and it makes me want to believe in it as well,"_

_"Remember what you told me when we fought?" Sigurd asked._

_Hiccup smiled. "The one that I barely won?"_

_Sigurd returned the smile. "Yeah. You told me that you're afraid and you can't do it alone. You ask me to be brave for you so that when you're scared, I can be your courage,"_

_Hiccup laughed. "I hope I didn't lead you on. I mean, I'm already engaged!"_

_Sigurd rolled his eyes. "No you're not," He then sighed in relief. "You're weird. All of my life, I was surrounded by men that doesn't know fear. I never had someone to be brave for,"_

_Hiccup smiled. "Well, if you can be brave for me, then I'll be brave for you as well,"_

_Sigurd returned the smile and he gestured for a toast. Hiccup noticed and slammed his tankard with Sigurd's. "And thank you, for believing that I could be more,"_

_**...~...**_

Hiccup sighed as he finally understood what his fear had made him do.

His fear made him stop believing in the world, made him stop believing that there are people worth to be brave for.

His fear made him stop believing in his people, just like how an over-protective father that doesn't believe in his children's ability to face the world.

His fear made him blind to the fear of others as well.

"_Hiccup, being a leader is not easy. You have to make tough decisions that not everyone can do. You have to bear responsibilities that would make lesser man fall. But you must also know that you reflect your people. _

_If you want to change them, you yourself have to be the change. If you are kind and with good beliefs, then I believe they will be as well," Stoick advised._

'And if I'm afraid, they will be as well,' Hiccup thought.

His friends must have been afraid just as much, if not, more than him.

"_But, you can't be afraid forever. You will have to be brave for me and for everyone that's afraid,"_

Hiccup smiled.

He has been afraid long enough.

For his people, for what he believed in and for those that has fallen for him, he would be brave and belief again.

It was time for him to brave the world again.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>For those that wondered why the title start off with III instead of I, well, it is continued from the movie. In the movie, to me there are two instances of a frozen heart being thawed. The first is when Anna was thawed when she got frozen, and the second is when Elsa realized that love thaws.

So yeah.

Oh and the sappy works is over! Next chapters will be all fluffy stuff! So look forward to it!

**Read and Review**


	12. Chapter 11: It's Time

**Author's Note: **Woah! It's been a while since I've updated! And quite a lot of things had happened in the meantime!

**1) **The official second trailer for HTTYD2 has come out and…to my happiness and disappointment, it revealed a lot! Which is good and at the same time, bad. Good because it's confirmed that Valka is _the _mother of Hiccup. Bad because it sort of revealed too much for me. There's two large dragons now and one of them is good. They showed Drago as…having problems with the good guys and…sort of make him less threatening to me. And the appearance of different tribes of Vikings (I think).

Oh well, two more months to go until the movie! There's ice breathing dragon! Good news for Elsa! And Valka commented that Hiccup has the soul of a dragon…Dovahkiin?

**2) **It seems there might be an official name for the King and Queen after all. It's not official but some people saw their runic names on their grave markers. The Queen name is Iðunn or Idun and the King is Agðar or Agdar, which to me is quite weird because their daughter's name is kind of far off to me. Oh well, I could make the Walt and Lillian name their middle name or something.

Alright, moving on!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 11 – It's Time<strong>

The atmosphere of the royal study was quiet again as the Snow Queen thought that there was nothing else to be said to the Viking King. She thought that it was best for the him to have the silence and peace to think and reflect about himself.

Little did she know, the Viking King had finished doing that a few minutes ago.

Hiccup, unknown to Elsa, was smiling as he enjoyed her embrace.

'She smells nice,' Hiccup thought which made him realized something. 'Oh man, I hope I smell nice after all that running!'

From where he came from, perfume was a luxury and he didn't think he need it for anything during his trip here.

That and his smell was never an issue with women…Viking women anyway. Well, not to say that he could get away without bathing for a few days or after a hard day of work but you get the idea.

In any case, for many reasons, Hiccup decided that they had been in this rather scandalous position long enough.

But it didn't mean that he couldn't have some fun with it.

"So," Hiccup started and hugged Elsa harder.

"Hm?" Elsa replied in small surprise at the Viking King's sudden activity.

"You really like warm hugs huh?" Hiccup said.

"King Hiccup!?" Elsa said, blushing a little. "Are you…"

'Done? Finished?' Elsa thought.

"…alright?" Elsa finished.

"Yes, but I don't mind staying like this for as long as you want,_" _Hiccup whispered.

Elsa blushed harder and gulped. She took a moment to calm herself down.

"I believe that it has been long enough," Elsa said and softly pushed Hiccup away.

Hiccup smiled and he shrugged. "True, because then we won't get to do the tour,"

Elsa's eyes widened for an instant before she smiled as well. "That is true,"

"So let's do it then!" Hiccup said and got to his feet. He then offered his hand to the Queen.

"Thank you," Elsa said as she took the hand and got to her feet as well.

"So…before we go any further," Hiccup said and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He then took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm sorry for my bad behavior. I let my emotions get the better of me,"

Elsa smiled. "Apology accepted. I understand. I've been through the same ordeal as well,"

Hiccup nodded. "Anyway, because we started off on the wrong foot, I like to start over again," Hiccup said and held out his hand. "So…my name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third,"

Elsa gave him a curious look. Hiccup didn't introduce himself formally and he didn't introduce himself as the King of his people. Instead, he introduced himself as a person and as if two common people meeting each other for the first time.

Elsa smiled and took his hand and shook it. "And I am Elsa Agdardottir,"

"So…you can call me Hiccup if you want. I don't mind if you want to call me King Hiccup but I…don't prefer it," Hiccup said and rubbed the back of his head.

"May I ask why?" Elsa asked although she suspected she knew the answer to it already.

"Well you know…King Hiccup, the Hiccup King," Hiccup answered sheepishly. "I mean, Hiccup is bad enough but to be the king of all Hiccups?"

Elsa giggled, the answer was different than what she suspected but it doesn't matter.

"Alright, but only if you call me Elsa," Elsa said and Hiccup smiled. "However, I'm afraid that we could only call each other by our first names in private. I hope you understand?"

"I understand," Hiccup smiled. "Still, I have to apologize again for the _cold shoulder _I gave you," Hiccup grinned. The second apology wasn't needed but Hiccup couldn't resist the chance for a pun.

"Well, _ice _to see that you've come to your senses," Elsa replied. Hiccup wasn't the first person to pun her after all.

Hiccup chuckled and raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, as much as I like to trade ice puns with you all day, I want to explore your town more,"

Elsa giggled. "_Icy _no problem with that," Hiccup gave shook his head. "Come with me then,"

With a wave of her hand, all the snow and ice that was in the room vanished without a trace, leaving no evidence of the monarch's previous activities. Hiccup only whistled as his reply.

Elsa gave a small smile and was about to turn towards the doors when Hiccup spoke again.

"Wait, before we go…I need to do something," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Elsa asked and Hiccup only give a small smile before heading towards the doors. He opened it and wasn't surprised at what he saw.

Anna, Kai, Gerda, Kristoff, Tuffnut and Ruffnut as well as Sigurd were all looking at different places in the hallway. Anna, Kristoff and the Viking twins were whistling different tunes while trying their best to not look at him. Kai and Gerda fared better in disguising what they had done while Sigurd was leaning on a wall with his arms crossed. He smiled and only shrugged at Hiccup when his gaze turn on him.

Hiccup however, did not smile at all. In fact, his face was almost the same as before he went into the royal study. Everyone was a bit surprised at this considering the happy sounds they heard before. They thought that Elsa had succeeded in her attempt to change King Hiccup's mind.

Had Elsa failed?

Hiccup then narrowed his eyes and glared at the twins. "Both of you, get in," Hiccup said and the twins jumped with surprise before quickly walking into the royal study.

"Right away!" Tuffnut said before he walked past Hiccup.

The rest of the crowd could only watch him as Hiccup closed the doors. Once inside, Elsa eyed the Vikings and she knew what they, especially Hiccup wanted to do.

The twins were giving her a worried look, as if fearing that Elsa had failed in her attempt to sway Hiccup. Elsa then decided to have some fun. The twins started it with this crazy plan of theirs, so she considered it as payback.

Elsa gave them a sad look and shook her head. She then mouthed and apology at them. The twins looked horrified at this.

Hiccup then turned sharply at the twins and crossed his arms. "So…you guys went behind my back, lied to me, hatched a crazy plan that could put potentially destroy our kingdom and you even got a foreign kingdom involved in the mix. You do realize that what you did was basically treason? I have every right to execute you for your crimes,"

The twins looked down at this. "Yes, we know," Tuffnut said in defeat. There's no point in denying what they did, regardless of their intention anymore. Hiccup was surprised at this; he had expected them to try and defend themselves.

"We understand what we did is wrong and we know the consequences that comes with it, even if…even if it went well. We won't justify it…so…we're willing to accept our punishment," Ruffnut said sadly.

Now Hiccup and Elsa was really surprised at hearing this. The twins were prepared for the consequences of their plan, even if it was extremely severe. They were ready to die for their friend and kingdom.

Elsa was jealous at Hiccup for having such devoted friends.

Hiccup however were having a mixed emotions. He was surprised and touched that his friends were willing to go such lengths for him and their kingdom. He also felt guilty because he was the one that pushed them this far.

After all, his stubbornness was what made them do this.

Hiccup sighed. "Fortunately, it did went well. Fortunately, you guys were not entirely guilty of your crimes…I had a hand in it as well,"

The twins perked up at this and turn to look at Hiccup.

"I was a stubborn idiot who wouldn't listen to his friends and thought that he knows better all the time…so I'm sorry," Hiccup said and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

The twins gave him a disbelieving look for a moment before they went teary eyed and jumped at him. "You're baaaaccccckkkk!" the twins said and hugged him.

"Hey hey! Don't think that you're off the hook! I'm still gonna punish you guys!" Hiccup said as he tried to break free from the twins hug.

"We don't care!" Ruffnut said.

Elsa giggled at the scene. You could say that it was almost a fairytale ending to a dark chapter in the Vikings' life and it made her feel happy for the Vikings as well, especially knowing that she had an integral part in it.

However, Elsa felt the jealousy strike again. Hiccup has so many people that care about him to the point that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for him. What about Elsa? How many friends does she has that would do the same just because Elsa was their friend and not leader?

In fact, you could say that when the time comes, Elsa probably wasn't in her friends' 'To-die-for' list. Kristoff and Sven, given the choice between saving her or Anna, would probably choose her sister. Kai and Gerda would…probably. Frederik, the closest thing Anna and Elsa had for an uncle, would most likely choose Arendelle first before them.

That leaves Olaf and Marshmallow; her creation or sons. Well, it wasn't a bad amount to start.

Hiccup finally managed to get the twins to behave again before he realized that Elsa was spacing.

"Els-" Hiccup stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the twins were giving him a weird look. "_Queen Elsa,_" Hiccup said with a bit of venom. Elsa was brought back to reality and thankfully she didn't took offense to it. It wasn't directed at her but at the twins to prevent them from doing anything else.

The twins shrugged and didn't say anything. They did gave him a mischievous smile however.

'Dammit,' Hiccup thought. He knew what they were thinking, especially what they were thinking of doing later on. Strangely enough, Hiccup wasn't hostile to the idea as he would before. He didn't have much time to dwell on it though.

"Anyway, the twins would like to apologize for what they did," Hiccup said. The twins turned to look at her with a sheepish smile.

"We're sorry for what we did. We know it is wrong and we ignored your feelings and opinion on the matter just for our sake. It was selfish of us," Tuffnut said and Elsa smiled.

"You are forgiven. I also have to apologize as well for my outburst. I could have hurt the both of you back then," Elsa said.

Tuffnut shrugged. "Eh, could have been worse,"

"True. Now, let's not waste any more time, shall we?" Elsa said and turned her attention to Hiccup.

Hiccup smiled.

**…**

When Elsa opened the doors, her gaze fell upon Anna first. Her little sister looked tense, as if a tightly coiled spring was waiting to let loose. Elsa gave her a smile and knowing look and Anna understood. Anna look as if she wanted to squeal, jump her, embrace her in a bone crushing hug and would ask her to spill the beans of what had happened in the room.

Elsa raised a hand and Anna stopped in her tracks. "Anna, we will be giving our guests a tour of the castle and the town. Let's start with the art gallery first, shall we?" Elsa said and Anna only gave her a muted nod.

Elsa nodded with a smile and started to walk towards the art gallery. Anna quickly walked beside her sister, with the Viking group following behind. Sigurd the bodyguard tailed behind the group along with Kristoff.

"So, what happened?" Anna said quietly.

"I'm sure you already know most of it," Elsa said and Anna had the decency to look guilty for a second.

"Well what do you expect for me to do? It is in my character!" Anna said. She could try and feign innocence but she knew Elsa wouldn't buy it. That and she wanted to get straight to the juicy parts.

Elsa internally agreed.

"So tell me, tell me, tell-"

"Hush, the gossip can wait later," Elsa said with a sly smile and Anna pouted.

"But it is too looooooong," Anna whined.

Elsa's mind almost give out an automated response of _"you've waited 13 years, surely you can wait a few hours more?" _but she managed to clamp her mouth shut.

Elsa felt a flash of guilt and in order to quell the feeling, she decided to quickly give a different response. Although it wasn't well thought.

"Well, I don't have much material if I tell you now. Perhaps later on after the tour when I have accumulate more,"

Anna gave her a skeptical look before she grinned. "I didn't think that you would ever want to 'accumulate' more," Anna air quoted.

Elsa blushed at realizing what her words had implied. "I-I! The material is not what you think it is!" Elsa almost screamed. Elsa glanced at her back, hoping that she didn't get the Vikings' attention.

Fortunately, the Viking King was distracted by the twins. It seems that the King Hiccup was in a similar predicament as her.

"Uh-huh. Suuuuureeee," Anna hopped in front of her when they were nearing the art gallery.

Elsa sighed with a smile. Elsa might be the more experienced ruler, but Anna has more experience in being in love. It was on such subject that Elsa had difficulty besting her little sister.

It was funny, 2 years ago, Anna was the clueless one but now…well, she has Kristoff to thank for that.

**…**

"This must have been the biggest art gallery I've ever been so far," Hiccup commented as he took in the sight of Arendelle's Royal Art Gallery.

"Does your kingdom have an art gallery?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "Eh, the closest we have to an art gallery is the portrait of our chiefs in the Great Hall. They tended to be greatly exaggerated though"

Hiccup then leaned close to her as if to whisper a secret. "They painted me as a buff kid at first," Hiccup whispered.

Elsa giggled before she blushed lightly at imagining a much more muscular Hiccup, like the one in her dream. Then, Elsa realized something.

"At first? You have it changed?" Elsa asked.

"Yep, I look like an ogre!" Hiccup joked.

Elsa gigged. "Oh my, that I would like to see,"

"Fortunately for me, it is gone for good," Hiccup grinned.

"Ah, such a pity. I shall mourn for the loss of such wonderful work of art," Elsa teased.

Hiccup chuckled.

Meanwhile, Anna was eyeing the monarchs from a distance with a smile. 'They're really hitting it off!' Anna thought. And to think that their first encounter was quite terrible! However as much as she wanted to…spy on them the whole day, she had her own share of responsibilities.

Namely the twins.

Anna tried to explain each painting to them but it was obvious that their interest was faked for her sake. She could tell their interests and taste in painting was different than hers.

However, there was something that worried her. The twins' hands and eyes were twitching when they were looking at the paintings. Anna recognized those signs. After all, she too exhibit the same signs when she was younger.

Having nothing much to do, coupled with her lack of appreciation for art at the time, she was tempted to vandalize the paintings to make it more 'interesting'. Fortunately, the paintings were spared from her lack of ability or rather, her lack of height to act on said temptations.

There was a reason why the paintings were hung at certain heights.

"Urgh!" Anna sighed and the twins looked worried that they might have offended her. "Alright, spill it! I know you're not interested in the paintings at all, weren't you?" Anna said with her hands on her hips.

"Y-yes?" Ruffnut said. "Sorry, it's just…I don't see what's so good about paintings of people…doing mundane normal stuff,"

"So, what kind of painting do you guys like?" Anna asked, although she had a feeling she knew the answer already.

"Battles! Dragons!" Tuffnut suddenly said. "Like the battle between Thor and Jörmungandr! Oh, or the RAGNAROK!"

"Well…it does sound interesting," Anna said.

"I know, right?!" Tuffnut said rather excitedly.

"Unfortunately, the Arendellian Royal Family isn't too keen on paintings about violence. The most we have is the painting of Joan of Arc,"

"Eh, who's that?" Tuffnut asked.

"A friend…of sorts," Anna said and the twins gave her a weird look. Anna rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go and meet her!"

A few minutes later…

"I think that she'd look cooler riding a dragon," Ruffnut said as the three of them were looking at the painting of the saint.

"Yeah…" Anna had to agree.

"We could turn the horse into a dragon," Tuffnut offered.

"Tempting, but I have to decline for Joan. She loves Maximus just the way he is,"

"Uh-huh…" the twins chorused while giving each other a worried look.

**…**

"So…"

"So…"

"Royal Ice Master and Deliverer…" Sigurd asked while looking at a portrait of the past royal family.

"I know what you think. It didn't exist before me," Kristoff answered.

"Right…"

"Yeah…" Kristoff simply said.

"…"

"…" the silence continued and Kristoff wondered why he was doing this. Why he decided to stick with the bodyguard? Maybe it was because he was suspicious of the Vikings. Maybe he figured that should they decided to do something bad, he would at least be able to handle the biggest threat of the group?

"So…"

"So…"

"I heard that you and the princess are an item?"

"Yeah…" Kristoff answered. He always grew uncomfortable when the subject of his relationship with Anna was brought up.

"Congratulations. You're quite the lucky guy," Sigurd said and Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck.

"The luckiest guy in the world as far as I'm concerned," Kristoff answered.

"So…"

"So…"

"When are you going to pop the question?" Sigurd asked.

"…"

"…"

"Soon…I'm just waiting for the ring to arrive," Kristoff answered and he internally berated himself for this. He didn't know why he decided to tell the guy about his secret plan. Maybe it was because they both were two socially awkward people that would use any topic for conversation?

"Oh, you have it made?"

"Yep. I had a friend have it made for me," Kristoff answered.

"That's going to make her very happy,"

"I hope…"

"…"

"I'm planning to surprise her," Kristoff said, hoping that Sigurd would keep his secret.

"Obviously. I'll keep it quiet, although I don't know why you choose tell me in the first place," Sigurd said and Kristoff sighed in relief.

"I don't know either," Kristoff answered.

Sigurd chuckled and patted Kristoff on the back. "You're a good man, Kristoff. You'll make her happy,"

Kristoff smiled. "Thanks. I'll do my best,"

"You have no choice because if you don't," Sigurd gave a short glance at the Snow Queen before he whistled. "Phew!"

Kristoff chuckled at this. "Don't I know it!"

Maybe, the Vikings wasn't so bad after all.

**…**

"And this is the Royal Garden!" Anna proudly exclaimed to the group.

"Ooh! Pretty!" Ruffnut said as she head towards a flower.

"And please do not pick the flowers," Anna said and Ruffnut deflated.

"Dang,"

Hiccup however was examining the gardens instead of the greens that it contained.

"How do you like the garden Hiccup?" Elsa asked.

"It's quite spacious. I like the landscaping," Hiccup commented and it was true. The garden had fountain in the middle with gravel pathways leading to various bushes of flowers around the gardens. There was also benches near flower bushes and around the garden.

Fortunately, the garden has enough space to a number of medium and large size dragons without damaging the gardens too much.

"I see. What about the flowers?" Elsa asked again.

"Eh, flowers?" Hiccup said and he squinted his eyes at the various flowers. "I guess they're harmless,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.

"And beautiful," Hiccup added. "Sorry, I'm not much of a gardener,"

Elsa smiled. "So am I, to be honest,"

"What about your sister?" Hiccup asked, gesturing at Anna who was busy explaining the types of flowers to the twins who looked disinterested again.

"Better than me, that's for sure," Elsa answered. "She has a lot time to spare,"

"Speaking of spare time, what do you with yours?" Hiccup asked. "I bet you read,"

"I do read a lot," Elsa answered. "In fact, I think I've read almost all the books in the library.

Hiccup looked impressed.

"What about you? I bet…you fly a lot?" Elsa asked and Hiccup smiled.

"I have to, Toothless would make sure that he at least got his sunset flight," Hiccup answered. "Even though I've made it so that he can fly solo,"

Elsa gave him a curious look. "Why the name Toothless? I mean, I get it that he can retract his teeth but still…"

Hiccup gave her a weird look. "How do you know about Toothless?"

"The twins gave me a book about your adventures," Elsa answered and Hiccup looked embarrassed.

"Oh, THAT book! Umm…I hope that you don't find it…I mean it's not that I'm vain or something…" Hiccup tried to explain but Elsa silenced him with a giggle.

"It's alright, I understand," Elsa smiled. "But I must say that I'm a bit disappointed that you weren't buff in the book,"

Hiccup laughed at this. "Yeah, others that read the book find it hard to believe that it was the scrawny kid that had done all those things,"

"Anyway, about Toothless, well, it sort of fit him. That and I guess giving him a _harmless _name would make him less scary," Hiccup answered. "Well, to be honest, if you want to compare looks, other dragons had him beat in the "fear-inducing-look" department,"

Elsa nodded in response. "How does it feel? To fly?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup grinned. "The one word that's best to describe it? Freedom. When you can fly, you're free to go anywhere you want to without anything or anyone to stop you…well, unless they can fly as well or shoot at you,"

Elsa giggled. "It must be nice to be…" Elsa hesitated.

'You can't be free…free of your burden and 'yourself',' Elsa thought.

Hiccup however, noticed and understood why. After all, he can't be free as well.

"It is nice to _feel_ free," Hiccup finished for her and Elsa looked surprised. "But, even when you can fly, even if you have wings, you're still not free of the ground,"

"That is true," Elsa smiled knowing that Hiccup understood of the burden that they both had.

"Do you want to fly?" Hiccup offered.

Elsa looked surprised again. "Well…I…I don't think-"

"OH MY GOD! I WANT TO FLY!" a loud voice suddenly could be heard behind the two monarchs causing the both of them to jump.

"I WANT TO RIDE A DRAGON!" the voice then moved into their front, showing a very excited Anna. "LET'S DO IT SIS!"

At this point, Anna was holding both of Elsa's hand and was staring at her intently. Elsa could swore that her eyes was sparkling even!

"It's not a good idea Anna!" Elsa tried to shoot the idea down but Anna was having none of it.

"What? How it is not a good idea? It IS a good idea!" Anna defended.

"Because if we were meant to fly, then we would have wings," Elsa tried.

"Pfft!" Anna waved her hand at Elsa. "That is why the world have dragons, sister dearest," Anna said in a smug tone, as if stating the obvious.

Much to Elsa's annoyance, the Vikings decided to side with Anna.

"That is so true," Hiccup nodded sagely and Elsa glared at him.

"Not helping," Elsa said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not helping you," Hiccup grinned and Elsa's glare intensifies. Hiccup could actually feel colder by the second!

Fortunately for him, he was saved by Anna. "Come on sis!"

Elsa was still not convinced however. "We might fall," Elsa said deciding to discard the tact. She would regret saying that however.

"Whaaaaaat?" Hiccup said and the Royal Sisters turned to look at him. "Are you implying something about our flying skills?"

"Yeah! You do realize that we are the pioneers of dragon riding and flying?" Tuffnut jumped into the conversation.

"Yeah! We're like…the safest choice you have when it comes to flying!" Ruffnut added.

"That's because you're the _only _choice and I didn't imply that your flying skill is horrible. What I'm implying is that there's still a chance that we might fall," Elsa tried but it was hard when almost everyone was against her.

"Meh, falling is part of flying actually," Hiccup shrugged. "In fact, if you don't fall from the sky at least once, then you're not really flying,"

"Are you implying that you might drop us if I allow this?" Elsa asked in disbelief. "Did you hear that Anna? They might let you fall!"

Anna looked even more excited at that. Elsa mentally face palmed. She forgot what kind of person Anna was.

"Yep," the twins answered quickly.

"Yes-I mean no!" Hiccup answered.

"No!" the twins corrected just as quickly.

"They will," Sigurd added.

"Not helping!" Hiccup said through gritted teeth.

"I'm not helping you," Sigurd grinned.

"You're supposed to be on my side!"

Elsa smiled. Oh, she liked the Sigurd already!

Elsa crossed her arms. "My answer is still no,"

"And I side with the Queen," Kristoff said only to receive a glare from Anna. Kristoff shrunk back after that.

"Please Elsa. This might be a once in a lifetime chance!" Anna pleaded.

"She's right you know. Besides, you're not just flying, you'll be riding a dragon!" Hiccup added and Elsa was silent for a moment as she think about it. They were right.

Besides, what was the harm to…feel free once in a while?

Of course, Elsa still wasn't comfortable with the 'falling' issue which she was sure Anna or the Vikings would attempt to do during their flight. However, Elsa was sure that she could talk the Vikings not to do it…and prevent Anna from doing it as well.

Elsa sighed as she uncrossed her arms. "Fine,"

Anna squealed as she jumped in delight and hugged her sister. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Anna mouthed before she went towards Kristoff to tell him of the good news.

"Alright so, we'll met here before sunset. Oh and make sure to wear pants," Hiccup said and Anna looked disappointed.

'Ah, that's why he was checking the gardens!' Elsa thought.

"Why can't we do it now?" Anna asked.

"Because one, I don't want people to see the dragons. Two, I still want my tour of your town," Hiccup answered.

"Three, it's more romantic that way!" Tuffnut added and Hiccup elbowed him.

"And _three,_ my dragon likes his sunset flight," Hiccup glared at Tuffnut.

Anna grinned for a second before Hiccup or Elsa could see it. "I see. Fair enough! So let's do the tour already!"

Elsa could only sigh as an excited Anna ran towards the castle doors. Hiccup grinned at his victory and Elsa gave him a glare.

"I thought that you didn't like showing off your dragons?" Elsa asked.

"Well, not to everyone. But for certain people, I feel that's unfair if I don't do my part in showing that the dragons aren't as what they're rumored to be," Hiccup explained.

Elsa smiled, feeling proud that Hiccup trusted her with the dragons.

**…**

The group separated into two before heading into the town. Anna, as usual was in charge of the twins while the 'bodyguards' which consisted of Kristoff and Sigurd tagged along. Not that the twins needed the tour anyway because they already knew of the town weeks ago but they could do some shopping. Especially when Arendelle was handling their expenses.

Meanwhile, Elsa was in charge of Hiccup and they were tailed by a few of Arendelle's elite soldiers. Elsa of course preferred that Anna was there with her to lead the tour but it looks like that she was on her own.

Luckily, her activities with Anna the day before proved to be useful and so Elsa lead Hiccup to the market as their first destination.

Hiccup looked impressed as he scanned the different variety of merchants and items at the marketplace. Elsa noticed that there was a glint of curiosity and wonder in his eyes, much like a child in a toy store. The Queen then thought that she could see the gears in The Viking King's head spinning.

"Fancy anything?" Elsa asked and Hiccup shrugged.

"You could say so," Hiccup answered and before Elsa could say more, the Viking King already went ahead and began talking to the merchants.

Elsa could only watch in amazement as she observed Hiccup doing his shopping spree with finesse. Hiccup would wait for a while near the stall that has the item that he want as he would listen to the customers bargaining with the merchants. Hiccup then would get the idea of how much an item's market price was worth and then he would start his own bargain.

Of course, seeing that he didn't bring much gold with him for trade, Hiccup would pull out a notebook, scribble something on it, tear half a page and hand it to the merchant. Elsa guessed that it was an invoice of sorts and seeing that Hiccup did not take anything from the merchant, the merchant would have to deliver the goods to his ship and collect the payment there.

Elsa watched as Hiccup does this to a number of merchants until they reached the end of the market. "Man! I'm going to need a new notebook!" Hiccup said as he brandished the now thin notebook in his hand.

"That can be arranged," Elsa said. "That is quite the sight, King Hiccup,"

Hiccup shrugged as reply. "So where to next?"

Elsa smiled.

Their next destination was of course, the chocolate shop. Elsa smiled as she saw Hiccup's eyes grow wider at the smell of the heavenly treat.

Hiccup's smile grow wider until he suddenly laughed. Elsa gave him a weird look, fearing that the experience might have been too much for the Viking.

'Oh my! And this is before he taste it! I hope he won't go crazy like Anna years ago,' Elsa thought.

Hiccup noticed the weird looks he got from Elsa and the shopkeeper and calmed himself. "Oooh, it's just…I just remembered a funny memory about…this," Hiccup gestured to the chocolates in the store.

"The chocolates?" Elsa asked. "You've had them before?"

Hiccup grinned. "Oh yes, courtesy of the twins,"

"Oh…" Elsa simply replied, not seeing the connection until she figured that if the twins were involved, something weird must have happen. "I take it that the twins, added with chocolate equals something funny?"

Hiccup nodded and began to tell Elsa the story of how the twins fabricated the lie to get him here including their effort to calm his anger using chocolate.

"Sweet smelling mud? Mud with milk?" Elsa laughed lightly. "If it was in any other situation, I would have been angry and insulted!"

Hiccup laughed before he finished his story, including the part where the twins claimed that they 'burned' her ice dress.

Elsa's pale skin instantly turned red. "Ice don't burn! They melt!" Elsa turned away from him to hide her embarrassment.

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah, my mistake. I should have realized that,"

Elsa sighed. Her blush was gone and she faced Hiccup again. "Your twins really are something,"

"Eh," Hiccup shrugged. "Their shenanigans at the time can be annoying but when you look back, it's pretty funny. I've had a book about their antics and I read it sometimes for laughs,"

Elsa giggled. "That would be an interesting read. So, chocolate?" Elsa said and gestured towards the selection of the treat in the store. "Pick your poison," Elsa grinned.

Hiccup's mind however, went on full automatic with his next response.

"I'd choose you," Hiccup instantly said as he turn his gaze towards Elsa. They both stared at each other for a moment before they realized what had happened.

They then both blushed and turned away from each other.

"Right-right! Chocolate! That one looks nice!" Hiccup quickly said and went towards the chocolate.

"Ye-yes, go ahead. Take anything you want, it will be on me," Elsa offered and she turned towards Hiccup again.

Hiccup's snarky mind decided to go automatic again as he turned towards the Queen and said, "Does that include-"

Fortunately, he was able to stop himself as he put a fist on his lips and groaned with his eyes closed. Elsa smiled and decided to play along.

"Include…?" Elsa asked and titled her head a bit to the side while pretending to be confused.

Hiccup opened his eyes and saw the rather suggestive pose and he was speechless for a moment. His brain was scrambling to get a different reply than what he thought of earlier.

"The chocolatier!" Hiccup finally said and gestured towards the silent chocolatier who clearly was enjoying the scene very much. "Because the Viking Kingdom could use her own chocolate store!"

"I don't know…I think the Queen would be jealous," the chocolatier said with a smirk.

Elsa blushed lightly at the comment. "Jealous? Of what, exactly?"

"I'm not sure," the chocolatier shrugged. "Either of him taking away your favourite chocolatier or of me having his attention so close at his home. Or perhaps both,"

Elsa stuttered and her blushed deepened. "Whaaaaaat…" was Hiccup's only reply.

"Hmph! You can have the chocolatier, King Hiccup. In fact, I'll pay for the setup of his shop in your kingdom," Elsa crossed her arms before heading towards a mint chocolate section.

"I'll take your word on that," Hiccup said and all he received was a cold glare.

The chocolatier couldn't resist laughing after that.

**…**

After sampling the chocolates and buying quite a number of them, Hiccup decided that it was time to move on. As they stepped outside, Hiccup noticed the darkening sky.

"It's about time," Hiccup said as he scanned the sky and then pulled out a pocket watch to confirm the time.

Elsa noticed the pocket watched and was intrigued by it. "Ah, a pocket watch!" Elsa said and scooted closer.

Hiccup gave her a curious look and Elsa noticed it.

"My father used to have one. His was given to him by his father and it was tradition of sorts," Elsa smiled and took out her own pocket watch.

The pocket watch was silver in color, the cover has a symbol of an incredibly complicated blue snowflake. The back of the watch has the engraving of Elsa's name. Elsa then opened the cover of the pocket watch and there was a portrait of the Royal Family on the inside of the cover.

Hiccup noticed Elsa's smile turned sad as she touched the portrait.

"But my father said that I'm a special snowflake and I'm not to be shackled by traditions of the old but instead, I'll start my own," Elsa said.

"Sad memories?" Hiccup asked and Elsa turned to look at him.

"…yes," was the only reply as Elsa turned to look at the watch again.

"_Please! Please! Please!" Elsa said as she desperately turn her pocket watch's time backwards, hoping that it would somehow turn the real time backwards so that her parents would be safe again._

_However, she found that she couldn't do it anymore as the pocket watch was frozen by her powers._

"_No!" a grim reminder of the harsh reality and she threw the watch away. The watch broke and wouldn't be repaired for a long time. Elsa didn't want to repair it. It was a painful reminder and she wanted to throw it away. But she couldn't. _

_It wasn't until two years ago that Anna found the watch and have it fixed._

"_The past is in the past, we have to move on," Anna said with a soft smile and presented the pocket watch, the time kept on moving._

"But not all of it is bad. It's a reminder of what I've lost, what I still have and what I can gain. A reminder of my past present and future," Elsa said.

Hiccup chuckled. "It's funny. I have…the same thing with my watch," Hiccup said and he showed the watch to Elsa.

The watch was also silver, except that the front cover has a dragon symbol, while the back had a name.

_VARIN HAFRSON_

Hiccup then opened the cover and inside of it was a portrait of a man. He has black hair that was combed backwards, silver eyes and a rather handsome face. The man however, wasn't smiling and his eyes showed a conflicted soul.

Elsa gave Hiccup a confused look.

"It was his watch. I know, I know…why would I keep something of his when he was my enemy?" Hiccup said with a sad smile. "Because like you, he's a reminder of what I've lost, of what I couldn't save. It's a reminder of what I've paid for the future,"

"_You can't just throw your life away after all this! Not like this! Not for me! You have a future!" Varin screamed as he tossed Hiccup's sword back at him. "Fight! Fight me!"_

"A future that I was afraid of," Hiccup closed the watch and smiled at her. "But not anymore, thanks to you,"

Elsa returned the smile, happy that both of them had won over their past and was ready to move on to the future.

"Such a strange turn of events for us to have the same sentimental token," Elsa said. "Coincidence?"

Hiccup shrugged and auto-responded again. "Or fate, heh,"

"Perhaps…" Elsa's reply was barely audible.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon them for a moment before Hiccup break it. "So uh, I need to get to my ship to get ready and get Toothless ready and you need to get ready and your sister need to get ready and-" Hiccup rambled on. "-we all need to get ready! So, let's get ready!"

Hiccup punched a fist on his palm and Elsa giggled. "Yes, getting ready is very important! Let's do it then!" Elsa said.

Hiccup grinned. "Don't forget to wear pants!"

"Alright, will do Hiccup," Elsa said and Hiccup smiled giving her a curt bow and turned away towards his ship.

Elsa then took out her pocket watch and smiled as she ran her thumb on the snowflake symbol.

Little did Elsa knew, the watch that was frozen and broken before in the past…would do so again in the future in the upcoming storm.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>The Royal Sisters will fly for the first time! How would it turn out?

Would Hiccup let Elsa fall from the sky?

**Read and Review!**


	13. Chapter 12: Catch Me When I Fall

**Author's Note: **This story has reached 400 reviews! Oh my god, you guys are awesome! Thanks for the feedback!

The first five minutes of HTTYD2 has been released and it looks great! Damn, June can't come any faster! Oh well, it's like a month and a few days away. But still!

**finnicksgirl72:** Nice to know you like the chess analogy! Although I like to think it as a reference. In fact, I've used many references in the story. See if you can find them all!

**muggleborn . dragon . ryder: **Sorry about your name, it has to be typed this way or FF won't show it properly. About Hiccup and by extension, other characters, yeah, I've got many feedback about them not being them at all. At this point, I've accepted that the characters in my story is going to be a bit different than their canon counterparts. I just hope that it won't be too different that the only similarities they share is their name. Still, I'm glad that you like it!

**YouNameIt:** They will visit the ice castle next chapter. As about being the threats of being attacked, well that is far far away. The thing is, most of the plot elements I mention will most likely be used in the far future. I'm setting the plot elements early so that it doesn't seem to just suddenly sprung to existence and hopefully, there won't be too many plot holes when I did use them. And hopefully, I can remember all the stuff that I've set in myself!

In short, most of the chapters you are going to read are the calm before the storm. The storm is taking its time to brew somewhere.

**Mandalore Requiem:** What I wrote was...close enough to your word, I guess, hahaha.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 12 – Catch Me When I Fall<strong>

"Wow, your King can shop after all," Anna commented, impressed at seeing the long line of merchants waiting to deliver their goods and receive their promised payments.

"Yeah! Even we were surprised. Didn't think that he would do anything with the stuff that we brought," Tuffnut commented.

"And lucky for us that you didn't overdid yourselves, huh?" Sigurd commented. "If not, there wouldn't be any space for your cargo,"

The twins looked sheepish at that. There were a few moments that Sigurd had to step in or the twins would had taken advantage of Anna's generosity. That and he had to decline the Princess herself from almost giving them half of the market's items.

"Oh sheesh," Anna waved a hand at Sigurd. "If there's no space we can rent a boat for you,"

"Huh, well…not sure what Hiccup's going to think about that. Speaking of Hiccup, isn't it almost time for the flying session?" Ruffnut said and Anna's eyes suddenly turned wide at that.

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Anna squealed. "I have to get ready! I'll see you guys later!" Anna said and she immediately ran towards the castle, leaving a bewildered Kristoff and the group of impressed Vikings behind.

"H-hey! Anna! Wait for me!" Kristoff chased after her.

Meanwhile, the group of Vikings need to get prepared as well.

**…**

"Sigurd, you and Fafnir will handle the Princess," Hiccup said as he adjusted his flight armor. "And perhaps his boyfriend as well. I figured that he would want to tag along as well,"

Sigurd nodded while the twins were busy distracting Toothless with the various trinkets they got from the market.

"Ruff and Tuff, you guys won't be flying but instead you two will wait on the ground for our return," Hiccup said and patted his armor. Satisfied with its condition, he began to check his supply satchel next.

"What? But that's boring! What the heck are we going to do when you guys were having all the fun? Who's going to entertain us?" Tuffnut voiced his opinion.

Hiccup smirked. "You will behave and stay put. Consider it probation,"

The twins groaned. "Can't you just punish us when we're back home?"

"No," Hiccup deadpanned.

Hiccup then seemed satisfied with his supply satchel and whistled. Toothless immediately went after his friend and Hiccup fastened the supply satchel on the Night Fury's saddle. Hiccup then pulled the supply satchel a few times to make sure that it won't fall off.

"There you go," Hiccup said, satisfied with his work. Toothless then bounded around excitedly. "Toothless!"

"Soo…that means you'll ride with the Queen then?" Ruffnut asked.

"Obviously," Hiccup rolled his eyes at what he thought was the most obvious question ever asked but he was distracted by Toothless again as the dragon nudged him towards the ship's bay doors.

In any other situation, it might be. However, considering Hiccup's past, it was a good question to ask.

The Vikings eyed each other and decided not to question their King any further.

"He seems to have forgotten about Astrid," Tuffnut whispered.

"For now. Let's hope that it will stay that way," Ruffnut replied.

It was actually surprising for them to see Hiccup to be so comfortable with a woman after what happened to Astrid. Before this, Hiccup would avoid spending time with any woman that showed even the slightest of interest in him, even if it wasn't romantic. Well, women of his age anyway.

Now, not only Hiccup was talking to Elsa like nothing bad ever happened to him, he was even going to fly with her!

Either Elsa has other magical powers or Hiccup suddenly has a convenient case of short term memory loss. Maybe Hiccup was moving on with his life after all?

'I think that Hiccup only sees Elsa as a friend or perhaps…a sister?' Ruffnut thought.

That was not good. Looks like a little intervention was required.

"Alright, so you guys ready?" Hiccup looked back and asked his friends.

"Ready," Sigurd simply replied.

"Wait Hiccup!" Ruffnut went after Hiccup and pulled out a parcel from her satchel. "Here, a gift for the Queen,"

Hiccup eyed the parcel suspiciously and Ruffnut grinned. "It's harmless this time, I swear,"

"And innocent?" Hiccup asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruffnut asked and Hiccup only gave her a knowing look.

"Do I need to remind you that time when-"

"Alright, fine! Yes, it's innocent this time. Open it if you don't believe me," Ruffnut replied.

Hiccup shrugged and opened the parcel to reveal an emerald shawl. The Viking King raised an eyebrow as he spread the shawl in the air with both of his hands to examine it further. The emerald shawl was medium sized designed to cover the head and shoulders.

Hiccup had seen bigger shawls that could cover the entire body but Hiccup liked the medium size better. Unless of course Elsa preferred the larger ones, considering the cape that she wore…

However, the shawl on its edges also has gold designs of numerous dragons of different species chasing each other.

"It's beautiful," Hiccup commented. "It must be expensive,"

Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Duh! It's for the Queen! Of course it has to be expensive,"

Hiccup smirked. "I'm sure she'll like it. Thanks, Ruff," Hiccup said.

"Duh!" Ruffnut replied. She took the shawl and folded it back into the paper wrapping before handing it back to him.

**…**

Frederik Havar, Arendelle's General almost went ballistic when he knew that the Royal Sisters were going on a flight with people they barely knew.

"Your Majesty, you can't be serious! Both of you, at the same time!? What if something happens to the both of you? Arendelle would be in deep trouble!" Frederik reasoned.

"I understand General, but I have faith that nothing bad would happen, hopefully," Elsa answered.

Frederik gave Elsa a disbelieving look. "You're leaving it to chance now? Are you _insane_?"

"I know it does sound crazy and unreasonable but I want to do this,"

"Why? Why risk everything just for a few minutes ride? And with people that you barely know too! For all we know, they could be another _Hans,_" Frederik said and Elsa eyed her surroundings.

Luckily, Anna hasn't arrived at the garden yet. "I thought that you'd be more sensible than this! Now you're acting like Anna was when she first met with Hans!" Frederik continued.

Elsa sighed and she looked down on her gloved hands. The gloves she wore were work gloves, thicker than the usual gloves she used to wear. It was more for Hiccup's protection than hers should she lost control of her emotions and her powers when flying.

"I know. But so far he hasn't proposed yet," Elsa joked with a smile.

Of course, this only serve to infuriate the General more. "Elsa, I'm not playing around!"

"I understand, uncle," Elsa replied. "But Anna seems to trust them,"

Frederik rolled his eyes at her. "Just like how she trusted Hans?"

At this Elsa glared at the General. "Give her some credit. Yes, she made a mistake two years ago but she has learnt from it and it made her wiser,"

"Wiser than you? Wiser than -"

The surrounding temperature began to suddenly drop as Elsa speak. "Yes, Anna is indeed wiser than I and _others _in certain areas of expertise,"

Frederik to his credit, didn't back away. "And I take it that what you're going to do is included in Anna's _area of expertise_?" Frederik looked at her questioningly. "What kind of expertise are we talking about anyway?"

'Love?' was what Elsa almost said but she sighed. "In illogical things,"

Frederik groaned and rubbed his temple. "Elsa-"

"I know what we are going to do is illogical but I realized that not everything has to be that way to live a life. In fact I am the very definition of illogical," Elsa said and Frederik knew what she meant.

"That may be so but-"

"Sometimes, the illogical course of action is the best," Elsa interrupted him. "During the Great Freeze, what would the best course of action be, logically?"

Frederik looked away as he couldn't look Elsa in the eye.

"The best course of action for Arendelle at that time is to have me removed by any means necessary. And the best course of action certainly isn't to let the crown princess, the one who is next in line for the throne to go after her runaway sister _alone,"_

"I didn't have time to stop her," Frederik tried.

"And you didn't stop or come along with Hans when he went after me. If anything were to happen to him, what do you think would happen to Arendelle?" Elsa continued.

Frederik couldn't answer her.

"Or perhaps, that is the outcome you were hoping for? When Anna and Hans is out of the picture, the ruling power would go to the council until-"

"That is not true! I didn't go at that time because I need to keep the ambassadors in check! Besides, Anna and Hans just took off without informing me!" Frederik defended and finally looked her in the eye.

"I know and I understand," Elsa sighed. She was right, Frederik would choose Arendelle first before her. Still, she couldn't fault the man. She would do the same as well.

"But this is what I meant, uncle. Anna's illogical course of action turned out to be the best in the end…well for Anna, Kristoff and I anyways. I'm sure that a lot of people would prefer a different outcome, yes?" Elsa said with a smile. "After all, most people think it's illogical to have the Snow Queen on the throne. The council thought so at first and perhaps still think so today,"

"You know I defended you on that matter," Frederik said and crossed his arms.

"And that is perhaps your most illogical course of action you've taken," Elsa said. "Even though I know that the logical side of you share the same thought as the council. Having me on the throne would only attract excessive attention from the world and you fear that the attention might not be beneficial for Arendelle,"

Frederik looked surprised at this and turned his gaze away again.

"That-that is-" Frederik tried.

"That is the truth and I understand," Elsa said and sighed again. "Still, in all honesty, I am not comfortable with the idea of riding the dragons myself either,"

Elsa would like to add that the Vikings might purposely let them fall from the sky but she didn't want to drag it out any longer than necessary.

"For both of our sakes and Anna's, I will ask them to limit their flying range and actions," Elsa said and Frederik turned to look at her again but he was silent for a moment before he sighed.

"Alright, alright…I just hope that I won't regret this," Frederik said and shook his head.

"You and I both," Elsa smiled.

"Heey! I hope I'm not too late!" Anna screamed as she ran towards her sister followed by Kristoff.

Elsa shook her head. "No, you're not late,"

Anna then went full on chatterbox mode, rambling about how it would feel to fly. Elsa could only chuckle and watch her sister with amusement while Kristoff sighed and shook his head.

**…**

It wasn't until dusk and the sky began to darken when Anna noticed two winged creatures in the sky. Everyone turned their attention to the sky as well and they could see the shape of two dragons, different from the first dragon that they saw.

The dragons closed in on them rather stealthily for their size and landed quite gracefully as well in front of them.

The first red coloured dragon is the larger of the two and it was huge. Huge enough that it carries Sigurd and the twins without difficulty. The dragon also has four wings and has two horn large horns that pointed sideways on its head. Strangely enough, the dragon's face looked like it was smashed in like an owl's. Or maybe it resembled a certain breed of expensive cat that she remembered seeing...

The riders got off from the dragon and it stood straight, easily towering over them. The dragon then turned its gaze towards Elsa and the Snow Queen instinctively gulped.

"Your Majesty, may I present to you, Fafnir, the Storm Cutter dragon," Sigurd said and gestured towards the dragon.

'Well, it's nice to know that not all Vikings are horrible when it comes to naming,' Elsa thought.

"Fafnir, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Ice Master Kristoff and General Frederik," Sigurd introduced the dragon to them.

"Hello," Elsa said and the dragon…nodded before resuming his posture again.

Anna was speechless however as she gawked at the dragon. Unbeknownst to Elsa however was that the Viking Twins were looking at her with shock.

"Uh-oh," Tuffnut said and Ruffnut nodded. Elsa didn't hear them however.

Elsa then turned her attention towards the second dragon which she guess was the Night Fury, Toothless. It really lived to its name as its colour was the same as the night. The dragon was just like it was described in the book but seeing it in the flesh gave Elsa a different feeling. The dragon noticed Elsa and they both stared at each other.

Its huge emerald cat-like eyes held curiosity and intelligence in them and Elsa knew that it was no simple beast. The dragon was wary of her, as if sensing and knowing something about her.

'Perhaps it knows?' Elsa thought.

However, her thought was cut short when the dragon turned its attention towards its master and Elsa followed suit. Her eyes fell on Hiccup and she was surprised to see that he was staring at her in a mute shock with his mouth agape.

Elsa gave him an inquiring look. 'Strange, why is he looking at me like that? Is there something on me?' Elsa thought.

Fortunately, someone knew what was going on and decided to take matters into her hands.

**…**

When Hiccup got off from Toothless and turned his attention towards the Snow Queen, he was shocked!

Elsa was wearing white riding pants, dark green shirt and black vest which Hiccup guessed was the usual attire when riding horses for the royals. However, what surprised Hiccup was that Elsa worn her hair in a loose braid that resembled…

'Astrid!' Hiccup thought and he could swear that he was looking at her right now.

Before this, Elsa was dressed differently that Hiccup hardly see the similarities and he could deny it. But now…

Astrid and Elsa both had blonde hair even if it was of different shade. Both had blue eyes and they braid their hair in almost the same style! Elsa wearing pants didn't make things any easier as it reminded him of his old flame.

Now that Hiccup thought about it, Elsa and Astrid was so similar that they can be mistaken as sisters. Heck, if you were to put Astrid beside Elsa and Anna, you would think that Astrid was the one related to Elsa and not Anna!

Suddenly, Hiccup's chest tightened and his heart began to beat faster. Then the feeling of guilt began to appear and his strength and courage left him. Unknowingly he began to take a step backwards and his hand was reaching towards Toothless, ready to mount him and fly away.

Fortunately, someone decided to take action first.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and groaned before heading towards Hiccup and pulled him away from the group, despite the Viking King's protests, earning everyone's attention. Strangely enough, Toothless seemed to understand that some privacy was needed and followed after the pair. Once they have reached a safe distance where they could not be heard, Toothless expanded his wings and shielded them from the rest of the group.

"Alright Hiccup, you've got to stop doing that!" Ruffnut said and Hiccup gave her a weird look.

"Do what?"

"Don't play dumb! You're giving her that look! The kind of look that you have on your face when you saw someone that even remotely resembles Astrid!" Ruffnut said.

Hiccup looked away guiltily.

Ruffnut sighed before continuing. "Look, Hiccup, I've hold off from talking to you about this because I thought that you needed time. But now I know that _it is the time _to talk about this,"

"I don't want-"

"Though luck. What happened to your "I was a stubborn idiot who wouldn't listen to his friends,"" Ruffnut air-quoted and Hiccup glared at her. Ruffnut didn't back down however and crossed her arms.

"This is about something else!" Hiccup said.

"I didn't know that listening to your friends only applies on the subject of running a kingdom!" Ruffnut said.

Hiccup didn't answer but instead continued to glare at her.

Ruffnut sighed again. "Look Hiccup, I'm not doing this just for you, but for Elsa as well because what you are doing is not fair to her,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her. "How is it unfair to her?"

"Because she is not Astrid's ghost, shadow, replacement or whatever!" Ruffnut said and Hiccup was about to retort when Ruffnut raised a hand to stop him. "Nobody wants to be seen as someone else that they're not! She is her own person! She is Elsa the Snow Queen, not Astrid the Shield Maiden!"

"You think I don't know that? It still doesn't make it any easier not to see Astrid on her!" Hiccup said.

Ruffnut pursed her lips for a moment. "Hiccup…she's not trying to replace Astrid. No one is,"

Hiccup was silent.

"You see Astrid on her and it makes you scared because you think that she will replace Astrid,"

Hiccup tightened his jaw for a moment before he could speak again. "I don't want a replacement, even if she's not Astrid," Hiccup looked away.

"I know Hiccup. You think that if you love again, that new love will replace Astrid and you'd forget her. But it doesn't have to be that way! Maybe…maybe you could still love Astrid in your heart and yet at the same time, love another that's not her," Ruffnut said and Hiccup turned to look at her again.

"How is that going to work?" Hiccup asked and Ruffnut shrugged.

"I don't know but I do know that there's no one like Astrid. I know that you can't and won't love another woman that's like her…but maybe that's the thing? Maybe you should stop looking for a replacement and instead look for…someone new and different?" Ruffnut tried.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her. "And you think that 'someone' wouldn't mind that I am still hung up on someone from the past?"

"Who knows, maybe she wouldn't mind," Ruffnut shrugged again. "Look, the bottom line is, Elsa is not Astrid, she's not trying to be her and she is not trying to replace her. So stop seeing her as such and treat her like Elsa and not Astrid, got it?"

Hiccup didn't answer but Ruffnut wasn't going to let him get away so easily. "Got it?" Ruffnut said again.

"I'll try," Hiccup said weakly.

"How about this, if see that look on your face again, I'll punch you as reminder and hopefully, it will knock the impression off," Ruffnut offered. "In fact, I think I'll punch you so hard you'll forget about Astrid long enough for you to get married to someone,"

Hiccup smiled at that. "I don't think I'll appreciate that,"

"And I don't give a damn," Ruffnut said and Hiccup chuckled.

"Thanks Ruff," Hiccup said and Ruffnut smiled.

"That's what friends are for," Ruffnut said and turned away from him. "Come on, they're waiting for the ride,"

Toothless pulled away a wing to let Ruffnut go before looking at Hiccup. Hiccup turned to look at his dragon and put his hand on the dragon's snout before scratching it.

"She's right isn't she, bud? I've been an idiot again," Hiccup sighed. "I may not be ready to love again but Elsa isn't Astrid, no matter how much they resembled each other. It's not just Elsa too but other woman that looks like her as well. But can you blame me, bud? A lot of Viking women looks like Astrid!"

Toothless snorted at him, sending a gust of wind at his face before mumbling something. "Yeah you're right, we'll worry about that later. We've got some flying to do,"

Toothless nodded and pulled in his wings, exposing Hiccup to others again.

**…**

"Sorry! It was just a prep talk," Hiccup grinned and Elsa wondered what it was about but choose to ignore it.

If anything, Hiccup was back to normal again and that's enough for now.

"So! This is Toothless, the legendary Night Fury you've heard so much about," Hiccup said and gestured towards Toothless. "Toothless, Queen Elsa," Hiccup sneaked a look at her. "Princess Anna, Ice Master Kristoff and General Frederik,"

Toothless examined each of the person mentioned before turning his attention at Elsa again. "Now bud, they're nice people, so be nice, okay?"

Toothless rolled his eyes at him while mumbling. Elsa smiled and for some reason, couldn't help but imagine Toothless' silent answer.

'What, you think that I couldn't be nice?' Elsa thought what Toothless would be saying.

"I know you could, bud," Hiccup said and rubbed his forehead. Elsa smiled knowing that she might have gotten it right. "Anyway, Queen Elsa would be riding with us," Hiccup gestured towards Elsa and Toothless narrowed his eyes at her.

"Hey! You said that you could be nice!" Hiccup said and Toothless huffed at him. Hiccup sighed and Toothless stalked towards her. Elsa's eyes widened at this and she suddenly grew afraid.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Elsa asked and Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck.

"He's wary of you," Hiccup answered and this suddenly made everyone except the Vikings tense as well. For such a dangerous beast to be wary of someone, it couldn't be good. "Look, don't be scared, don't make sudden moves and do as I say, okay?"

Elsa nodded.

"Now, look away from him and extend your hand towards him," Hiccup said but Toothless for some reason, wasn't making things any easier. He was baring his teeth at Elsa and was even hissing!

Still, Hiccup wasn't worried. He had a feeling he knew why Toothless was doing this.

Elsa jumped a bit and the temperature began to drop. "Elsa, don't be scared," Hiccup said and Elsa turned to look at the Viking's eyes. Blue eyes on green and Elsa suddenly realized that it was the same colour as Toothless. In that sense, Elsa thought that they both are the same.

So if she can trust Hiccup, surely she could do the same with Toothless?

Elsa then turned her head away from the dragon and extended her right hand. Toothless' reply was to hiss louder and Elsa snapped her head at the dragon.

Frederik and Kristoff looked ready to spring at the dragon.

"Elsa, take off your glove," Hiccup said and Elsa hesitated for a moment as she stared at the dragon. Slowly, she then took off her glove and she could already see frost on her hand. She willed the frost to disappear but her fear didn't allow it. She was reluctant to touch the dragon in such state but it looks like she didn't have much time as Toothless hissed again. Nevertheless, she repeated the process again and hoped that the dragon didn't take it the wrong way.

Elsa waited for what it seemed like an eternity before she felt a course surface touching her hand. Elsa's eyes widened in surprise but before she could turn her head, she heard a snort and a breeze of warm air enveloped her hand.

Elsa squealed before she felt the frost on her hand melting away and the dragon's skin was on her hand again. Elsa slowly turned her head around to find that her hand was resting on the dragon's snout with Toothless closing his eyes with a content look on his face.

Elsa's smiled and her fear dissipated as she began to rub the dragon's snout for a few second before Toothless break the contact. Suddenly, Toothless sat on his hind legs and gave her a _toothless _smile. Toothless then mumbled something and Hiccup chuckled.

"Can you guess what he said?" Hiccup asked. "I'll give you a hint, it has to do with his snort just now,"

Elsa smiled. "My hand was cold?"

Hiccup smiled. "Yep," Toothless could sense her power but he wanted to confirm it. At the same time, Toothless wanted assurance that Elsa would not be a danger to him during flight.

Anna then decided to take that time to socialize with the dragons, so to speak. "Oh my gosh! Toothless, you're way cuter than in the flesh!" Anna squealed, earning the dragon's attention. "Can I touch you? Pleaseee?"

Toothless gave her a weird look but Anna was prepared. "Oh, oh! I've brought you something!" the princess said and pulled out dried fishes from a small pouch on her hips. "Well, it's not fresh but I hope you'll like it!"

Hiccup watched the interaction with interest. Dragons doesn't like processed food very much, mostly because it wasn't that satisfying to them. That and most processed food such as pickles and the like contains ingredients that the dragons don't like. Heck, they don't like most cooked food as well and prefer to eat their food raw. He wondered what Toothless would do in this situation.

Toothless sniffed the food and with a huff, opened his mouth. Anna placed the food in his mouth and Toothless munched with a look of disinterest on his face. After he was finished, he mumbled something again and shrugged his shoulders, as if saying that the food was passable.

'The dragon is very expressive,' Elsa noted.

"Sorry…" Anna said meekly. "I'll get you the fresh ones next time, I promise!" Anna said and Toothless perked up at this. He then approached Anna and allowed her to touch him. Anna didn't need any more pointers to touch the Night Fury.

Fafnir huffed loudly and Sigurd chuckled as he rubbed his dragon. "There's nothing you can do, Fafnir, he's a chick magnet,"

"Alright, so let's get going or we'll miss the sunset!" Hiccup said and Toothless perked up at this. He licked Anna once and _laughed _before stalking towards Hiccup. "That was for the fish," Hiccup said.

"This is-! Okay, I deserved that one," Anna said and tried her best to wipe away the saliva.

Elsa however, decided to try and get some word in before their flight. "King Hiccup?"

Hiccup turned his attention at her. "Yes?"

"About the flight, I know that you _might _let us fall-" Elsa started but was interrupted by Frederik.

"What?!"

Elsa raised a hand at him. "It is a risk that I'm afraid I cannot allow, I must ask for a favour not to-"

"No," Hiccup simply said and the Arendelleian group were flabbergasted.

"No?" Elsa asked.

"If you can't or don't want to take that risk then don't fly. It's simple as that," Hiccup shrugged.

Elsa was stumped at that. She didn't expect for the Viking King to flat out refuse her like this just for a simple request. Anna started to deflate at this.

Hiccup noticed this and wasted no time to explain himself.

"It's like this; can you promise me that you will not fall when you are riding a horse? Or when you're on a ship?" Hiccup asked and Elsa's eyes widened in realization. "You can't, right? Because no matter what you do or how hard you try, you can't eliminate that risk completely. Maybe the reason you will fall is not your fault, but it is the horse, or perhaps the weather or something else,"

Elsa's gaze softened at this as she remembered a bad memory that involved a ship and bad weather.

"But that doesn't stop you from using them, right?" Hiccup continued and sighed. "Look, we might gave you the impression that we like to drop people from the sky but that was half the truth,"

"Every Viking knows the risk of falling when flying. Expecting not fall when riding a dragon is…foolish. Heck, expecting not to fall when flying is foolish as well," Hiccup said and Elsa hardened her gaze at what he had implied but she remained silent.

"So instead of fearing that risk, we embrace it. We teach our dragon riders not to panic when falling and we teach their dragons to catch them. It then evolved to become a trust-bonding activity," Hiccup scratched Toothless' head.

"And in a way, it is about trust," Hiccup looked at Elsa straight in the eyes. "I mean, chances are, we've let someone down even though we did our best not to,"

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise again and she glanced at Anna for a moment before looking back at the Viking King.

"What we can do however, is to bring them up again," Hiccup continued. "I can't promise you that I will not let you fall. Honestly, I can't even promise you that I will catch you every time. But, what I can promise you is that I will try my best to catch you,"

Hiccup then began to mount Toothless. "So let me ask you a question; do you trust me to let you fall and catch you?" Hiccup asked and looked at her with a smile.

Elsa didn't know what to do. She didn't expect for things to turn out this way. Heck, she didn't expect such as the insightful response for a seemingly simple request. Nor did she expect for the Viking King to be so…philosophical.

However, she couldn't help but agree with Hiccup. Elsa turned to look at Anna and she saw the love and hope she had for her in her eyes.

Hiccup was right. She tried her best and tried almost everything not to hurt her sister ever again but it failed. Perhaps in the future, she would hurt her sister again but does that mean she should _hide _again and not take any risk at all to reconcile with Anna?

No. She promised not to do that again. She promised to heal the pain that she had caused and as of now, any pain that she would cause in the future as well.

She would take risk of flying and falling. In a sense, it wasn't just about trust, but about life. Life was about struggle and you would fall down one day no matter what you do. So what you can next do is to either stay down or rise up again.

Elsa turned to look at Hiccup with a smile. "Yes, I choose to trust you,"

Hiccup smiled. He then held out his hand and Elsa accepted it.

Elsa didn't know it, but the risk she had taken today would change her life forever.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Ha! You think they would actually fly this chapter, huh?

**Read and Review!**


	14. Chapter 13: Touch The Sky

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the feedback guys! A few important notes here before the story.

**1)** Alright so, cliffhanger! Now I know some of you are annoyed by this and seeing that some (or most?) of my chapters have them, you might be thinking that I'm going to use them a lot. That is not far from the truth actually. You see, if you noticed, there's a pattern of length for each chapter. The minimum length would be 3k of words but I'm hoping that I could make 5k the minimum each. Maximum would be less than 9k unless the situation requires it to be longer.

This is because I do not like and want to write very long chapters. I want each chapter to be defined by a (major) event that's happening and not three hundred of them. This I hope will make each chapter memorable and easier to find said event. For example, each chapter title tells what plot that's going on and you sort of can guess what's going to happen. Because of that, when a chapter has fulfilled the required plot, I will end it. Of course, that means resorting to cliffies but hopefully not all the time.

I guess you could say that my format is similar to weekly manga and that not everyone is going to agree with this format. But hey, that's how I roll. You can either roll with me or just watch me roll away.

Oh and this is the longest chapter by far with about 8k words.

And yes, my story can be quite slow but yeah, that's how I roll with this story.

**2)** Alright, so starting from this chapter, I'll be using soundtracks to (hopefully) supplement my story and (hopefully) increase immersion. I know that some of you might not like this or the soundtrack that I'll be using but hey, you can ignore it.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any music materials that will be used in this story. They belong to their respective owners.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 13 – Touch the Sky<strong>

For all of Hiccup's talk about embracing the concept of falling while flying, Elsa thought that they didn't have any safety measures against it.

Well, she was glad that she was proven wrong.

"Before you can ride, you need to wear this," Hiccup said and took out a leather vest from Toothless' saddle and handed it to her.

"What is this?" Elsa asked.

"Safety vest. It has a ring where we can clip on the safety cable so that you won't fall off," Hiccup explained and showed the ring attached to the vest.

Elsa examined the vest for a second before raising an eyebrow at Hiccup.

The Viking King grinned. "What? You think that we just ride the dragons willy-nilly?"

"Well…that was the impression I get from the way you talk about falling before," Elsa answered and Hiccup chuckled.

"I did give that kind of impression, huh?" Hiccup said. "But it's true that we like to fall while flying, just in a controlled way. So put that on,"

Elsa smiled and began to wear the vest. Frederik in the corner looked relief knowing that the Vikings at least had a sense of safety.

Meanwhile, Sigurd was doing the same with Anna and Kristoff.

"So…is this the only safety equipment you have? I mean this is great at prevent you from falling but what if _when_ you fall?" Kristoff asked with a slight discomfort.

"Oh, don't be a big baby!" Anna chided with a smile.

"The amount of airtime I've accumulated is waaaay shorter than my groundtime, so you'll excuse me if I'm a bit…" Kristoff couldn't finished.

"Scared?" Anna teased.

"Shut up, feisty pants," Kristoff rolled his eyes. Sigurd smiled at the antics of the two lovebirds. Still, time to move things along.

"We'll try to catch you should you fall. No guarantees though," Sigurd grinned.

"Great, that made me feel better," Kristoff deadpanned.

"Eh, we did have another equipment, called the parasite," Tuffnut mentioned.

"Parasite?" Anna asked.

"It's not parasite. He said it wrong. It's called parachute," Sigurd explained.

"What is that?" Kristoff asked and Sigurd shrugged.

"It's a…large piece of cloth stored in a bag that opens up to create drag to slow down your fall," Sigurd explained in one breath.

Kristoff didn't get it and Anna had a look of confusion on her face before she suddenly perked up. "Oh, you mean like a large umbrella?"

Sigurd had never encountered an umbrella before he came to Arendelle while the twins had known of it during their reconnaissance. Luckily, the twins had bought a few umbrellas to bring back home and had showed it to Sigurd. That means Anna and Kristoff were spared the question of what is an umbrella.

"Yes! Except a bit different," Tuffnut said. Anna and Kristoff nodded in understanding.

"Oh, it didn't sound…Viking-ly," Anna said and Sigurd shrugged.

"It wasn't our invention. Hiccup caught wind of it when he heard the story of a French man that used the thing," Sigurd explained.

"So…why didn't we get to wear it?" Kristoff asked.

"It's still a work in progress. We didn't have a cloth that's light and yet strong enough for it to work. Most of the parachutes ended up tearing itself apart when opened," Tuffnut explained. "That and it becomes a nuisance when the dragon tried to catch you when it is opened,"

"Yeah, it didn't end well…" Ruffnut shook her head.

"Oh…that's a bummer," Kristoff said.

"Yep. So try not to fall too much, eh?" Sigurd grinned.

"You think I want to?" Kristoff grumbled.

After the Royal Sisters and Ice Master had put on their safety vest, it was time for them to take to the skies. Well, almost.

"So I have a gift for you, from the Vikings," Hiccup said and gave Elsa the parcel. Elsa thanked the Viking King and took the parcel. She opened it to reveal the emerald shawl. Elsa's eyes widened and Anna gasped when she noticed it and quickly went to her sister's side.

"It's beautiful!" Anna commented and Elsa nodded in agreement. Still, there was something fishy with the shawl. Elsa then spread the shawl in front of her and compared it to Hiccup as the background. Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this but remained silent.

'An emerald shawl from the Viking King that likes to wear green and has green eyes…' Elsa thought. 'Coincidence or is there a deeper meaning to the gift?'

Apparently Anna had the same idea and both sisters eyed each other for a moment. The both of them then shrugged their shoulders before turning their attention to Hiccup again.

"Is there something wrong?" Hiccup asked.

"Yes there is!" Anna said and Elsa gave her a horrified look. She hope that Anna wasn't going to tell him what they thought of the shawl! "Don't I get a gift as well?" Anna crossed her arms and tried her best to look crossed. It worked.

Hiccup gave her a blank look before his eyes trailed after the twins who looked horrified.

'They forgot. Figures. Wait, I forgot it about it as well! Damn!' Hiccup thought. "Of course there's one for you! Haha…" Hiccup said nervously. "In fact, you'll get it after we GET BACK from the flight!"

The twins nodded furiously behind Anna, signalling that they understood. Fortunately, the decision to keep them grounded was a good idea.

Unfortunately, Anna knew what was going on.

"You forgot, didn't you?" Anna narrowed her eyes at Hiccup. Hiccup sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

'More like I didn't even thought of it,' Hiccup thought.

"Buuuusteeeed," Sigurd drawled at the back.

"_Shut up," _Hiccup said through gritted teeth at his bodyguard. "Sorry?"

Fortunately for Anna, she smiled and shrugged. "Eh, I don't mind actually since you're giving us a ride on the dragon. Still, it would be nice to get a gift too," Anna smiled and walked towards Kristoff.

"Of course!" Hiccup said and sighed. "Phew!"

Elsa giggled before she tied the shawl around her waist like a sash. "I'd wear it properly but since we're flying, I do not want to lose it,"

Hiccup nodded. "Alright, final safety check,"

Sigurd nodded before going towards Anna and Kristoff and tugging at their vests to ensure that they are worn properly. Hiccup did the same with Elsa and both voiced their approval.

"Okay, everything's seems good! We are ready to fly!" Hiccup clapped his hands together and grinned.

"YES! FINALLY!" Anna said happily.

"Yay…" Kristoff said rather sadly.

Sigurd signaled for Fafnir to lower his neck so that he can be mounted. The dragon did as ordered and Sigurd climbed first. Anna was about to climb next, however Kristoff's protective and jealous instinct kicked in and he went first.

"Hey!" Anna said but it was too late. Kristoff was behind Sigurd seeing that there isn't a handle for the passengers to hold on, he unknowingly hugged the Viking's waist.

The atmosphere turned silent as everyone gave the pair their outmost attention.

"Uh…" Sigurd uncomfortably said. "I know you want to protect her and everything but uh…"

"What?" Kristoff said, not realizing what he had done.

"I think that letting Princess Anna sit in the middle is safer," Sigurd said. "And more comfortable…"

"Of course it will more comfortable," Kristoff rolled his eyes. 'You would want that, don't you?'

Suddenly, Anna laughed. "Kristoff! I never thought that you swing that way!"

Kristoff turned his head at her. "Swing what way?" he said, rather annoyed at not getting the joke.

This time, Elsa joined in the fun. Thankfully, she was more direct in the matter. "It never strike me that you like men that way, Kristoff," Elsa giggled.

Only then Kristoff understood what had happened and he scrambled to distance himself from the Viking. "What? It's not like that!"

"Hey, whatever floats your boat, man" Tuffnut grinned and Kristoff turned red.

"Alright, alright, we've had our fun. But I seriously want to fly, people!" Anna said and climbed, getting in between the two men. Kristoff didn't like the idea of Anna hugging a man that wasn't him but he just have to bear with it for a while.

Sigurd nodded. "Alright, Fafnir's a large dragon. He can carry three people on his neck so his saddle is optimized for that. You'll notice that there are hooks near your legs," Sigurd said and his two passengers checked the saddle for the hooks.

Anna nodded and Sigurd handed them the safety cable. "Attach that to your vest's safety ring and the saddle's safety hooks.

"Done!" Anna said.

"Very good. Now, you'll notice that Fafnir's spine horns has the hook attachments as well. This allows Fafnir to carry more than three people at a time," Sigurd said and the two passengers turned their head to check Fafnir's rather large spine horns. Fafnir has four of them and each seemed to have a collar with hooks attached to them.

"During our flight, when I say so, you can unhook your safety cable and attach it to one of the horns instead," Sigurd said.

"Why would we want to do that?" Kristoff questioned and Sigurd grinned.

"So you can stand on the dragon while flying, duh," unfortunately, Ruffnut answered for him.

"Stand?! On a dragon, MID-FLIGHT?!" Anna said.

"Uh, great! Way to go. Now the Princess would want to do that," Frederik, who had been silent for a while had finally said. Kristoff agreed with the General however.

"Exactly, DUH," Tuffnut mimicked his sister and Ruffnut smacked him.

"That's the general you're talking to!" Ruffnut said and Kristoff groaned at the selective respect.

"Can't we just get this thing over with?" the Icemaster said and Anna giggled.

"Have to wait for the boss," Sigurd said, gesturing towards Hiccup.

"Alright, so you'll ride with me, Queen Elsa," Hiccup said and he mounted Toothless and he snapped his prosthetic foot with the control mechanism. This of course, earned the Queen's attention. Elsa's eyes widened as her eyes fell on the unique leg. However, her amazement didn't end there as it wasn't just the leg that's a piece of wonder, but also the rest of the mechanism attached to Toothless.

Elsa trailed the mechanism until it led her to end of Toothless' tail. It was then she realized that the Toothless had a red prosthetic tailfin!

Toothless' tail swished in front of her, bringing Elsa back to reality and she turned her attention back to its rider.

"So…ready?" Hiccup asked and Elsa smiled. The story of Toothless' tailfin can be asked later. For now, she has a flight to catch.

"Yes," Elsa said. Hiccup offered a hand and Elsa took it. Once she has mounted the dragon, Hiccup handed her a safety belt and it didn't take her long to find the safety hook and attach it. Fortunately, Hiccup has prepared a two person saddle for cases like this, however rare it was.

Once Elsa was done with the safety measures, she then realized something, there was no grip points for her to hold on to. This means that she has to hold on to Hiccup.

Elsa bit her lip. She rarely rode a horse with somebody else in front, especially one of the opposite gender. Now, she was in that situation, except that the horse was a dragon. The Queen then hesitantly placed her hands on the Viking King's shoulders. Fortunately for her, Hiccup didn't pay much attention to it, indicating that such action was the norm to him.

Once Hiccup and Sigurd was sure that their VIP was secure, they nodded to each other before the Viking King smiled. Hiccup then cleared his throat. Hearing this, the dragons tensed.

"This is your Captain speaking!" Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.

'Captain? Why is he Captain when he's the King?' Elsa thought.

"When it comes to air travel, we know you have no choice whatsoever," Hiccup said with a grin mirrored by the twins. Of course, the Royal Sisters noticed this and it made them nervous, Elsa especially so. The dragons then suddenly spread their wings, earning a gasp from the Royal Sisters. Kristoff just went 'woah!'

"But thanks again for choosing Viking Air," Hiccup finished and the dragons suddenly jumped into the air and flapped their wings. Their ascent was slow (for the riders) at first but they gained speed at a comfortable pace for the first timers.

"Woooohoooo!" Anna screamed. When they began their flight, Elsa felt as if something was trying to pull her soul away from her body. Her body tensed, her grip on Hiccup's shoulder tightened and her heart began to beat so loud and quickly that she could hear them.

She then could feel something inside her thick gloves and she realized that it was ice crystals. Knowing that her powers had manifested themselves, Elsa quickly pulled her hands away from Hiccup's shoulders. Hiccup noticed this and turned his head towards Elsa.

"You ok?" Hiccup asked and Elsa hesitated to answer before she shook her head.

"I-I can't do this! There's a large chance that I might freeze you!" Elsa answered.

"Do you want to?" Hiccup asked and Elsa gave him an incredulous look.

"Of course I don't want to! But my powers-"

"Then you won't," Hiccup said with a smile.

"What? How can you be sure?" Elsa asked in disbelieve.

"Because I believe in you," The Viking King answered. Elsa doubted his words because she hardly trusted herself. Then, Hiccup pointed towards somewhere. "Look!"

Elsa looked towards where Hiccup pointed and she gasped. Because of her worrying, Elsa didn't realized that they had flown very high up in the sky. So high in fact that it made Arendelle looked small.

Arendelle was her whole world and home for 23 years and for that period of time, it was huge. Now, seeing it like this…

_"You know, when you ride a dragon, when you can fly, the world becomes a lot bigger,"_

Hiccup was right.

Elsa then could feel Toothless climbing higher and higher until Elsa could see that they have passed what she would say as the 'cloud ceiling'.

Hiccup grinned and turned his head at her. "So, ready to take things to the next level?"

Elsa gave him an inquiring look for a moment before she understood. "I…I'm not sure," Elsa said and hugged herself. What they did just now was tame and so far she was handling it well. However, Elsa wasn't sure if she can control herself if they go further.

"I know that I've said that I would take the risk that comes with flying, but now that we're here…I don't think I can go through this after all,"

Hiccup's grin faltered as he saw that Elsa was still afraid. Something must be done or else they won't get to the best part of the flight. Suddenly, he remembered something about fear.

"_Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear,"_

Hiccup turned his head away with a look of disappointment, which was noticed by Elsa. The Snow Queen felt a pang of guilt knowing that she didn't live up to the Viking King's trust.

If only Elsa knew the truth of how much Hiccup trusted her.

Hiccup grinned as he prepared his master plan. "Elsa…I want to say something,"

"What is it?" Elsa asked and couldn't help but notice the sad tone in his voice.

"I'm tired of living. I've lost so much, I've lost the woman that I love…I can't go on anymore!" Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened in surprise.

'What? He wasn't like this before! He couldn't be doing what I think-' Elsa couldn't finish her thought as Hiccup unclipped his safety cable.

"Goodbye Elsa. It was wonderful knowing you," Hiccup said and let himself slide off from Toothless and into the clouds. Elsa's eyes was wide as saucers as she saw Hiccup fell.

"HICCUP!" Elsa tried to reach him but it was too late and the Viking King fell silently to the clouds below.

"Toothless! Hiccup had fallen off! We have to catch him!" Elsa said and if she had paid more attention, she would have noticed that Toothless was rather relaxed even though his rider was committing suicide. Nevertheless, the dragon dived towards Hiccup at fast speed.

Toothless flapped his wings to increase his speed further. The dive was so fast that she had to lean forward and she could hardly open her eyes. She could still see the ground coming at them at blazing speeds, something that she never thought was possible. The soul tearing feeling was stronger than ever before and her body was telling her to be afraid in every way possible. It was telling her to get away from the situation, to just sate her fear and worry for only her safety.

No, she couldn't-she wouldn't do that!

Then, she noticed Hiccup was getting closer and closer. "Hiccup!" Elsa screamed and Hiccup's serene face turned at her.

She was almost within arm's reach when she held her right arm towards Hiccup. Suddenly, seeing her hand, the place where she would focus her magic, brought back memories that she wished she could forget.

"_Hang on!"_

"_Catch me!"_

"_Gotcha!"_

"_Slow down! _

"_Anna!"_

Elsa remembered seeing the frost magic flowing out from her hands into her sister and to make it worse, frost started to appear on her gloves and she instinctively pulled it away. Truth to be told, gloves were just a placebo for Elsa and it was never an effective mean of control of her powers. Overwhelming emotions or when she wants to, her powers can bypass it completely as in this situation.

Hiccup was falling headfirst but he was rather relaxed. With a smile, he extended his own arm at Elsa.

"Elsa!"

Elsa turned to look at Hiccup and into his emerald orbs. She couldn't explained it but somehow, looking at those eyes that does hold any fear, fear of falling, fear of _her, _made her braver.

This time, without hesitation, Elsa's right hand was no longer covered in frost it shot towards Hiccup's own hand and brought him closer to Toothless. Once he has was close enough, they let go of their hands and Hiccup grabbed the saddle and expertly mount it again, as if he had done this countless times before. Toothless then expanded his wings and pulled up again to safety.

A few seconds later and once the rush of adrenaline has calmed down, Elsa exploded. "What were you thinking?!"

Hiccup laughed. "Falling,"

Hearing his laugh and answer, Elsa realized that she had been played and her face turned scarlet. "You-you bastard! That is not funny! I could-we could have-!"

Hiccup smiled and shrugged. "But we didn't,"

Elsa frowned. "We were lucky! That was a very risky and foolish thing to do!"

Hiccup turned around and face Elsa. "And so is flying with a person that you've hardly known," Elsa's mouth opened but she close it again.

"In fact, you yourself recognize the risk that comes with flying and I even...you know, have indirectly told how dangerous it could be," Hiccup said and smiled. "I've even implied that I might let you fall. Yet, here you are anyway. You've already taken the first step, despite knowing the risk and danger, so why not go further?"

Elsa looked down on her gloved hands and found out that it was no longer covered in frost. Still...Elsa couldn't do it and she hugged herself.

"I want to! But I'm not like everyone else...I'm not like you!" Elsa said and Hiccup smiled again.

"You don't have to be like everyone else Elsa, just yourself," Hiccup said. "I've seen what you can do when you were yourself…when you're not afraid of yourself,"

Elsa looked away. Hiccup smiled and turned forward.

"Have you ever touched the clouds, Elsa?" Hiccup asked and Elsa shook her head. To be honest, she had touched a cloud before and it was Olaf's. Well, technically it was hers as well, but since it was made from her powers, it was artificial. She never had touched a natural cloud before.

"Well now you can!"

Hiccup nudged Toothless to bring them towards the clouds and flew within arms' reach below it. "Come on! Touch it but without your gloves!"

However, Elsa hesitated to remove the safety measure, even if it was ineffective. Hiccup noticed this and turned his head to face her again.

"Elsa, I know that you're afraid…to be afraid. But remember what you told me? To be afraid is inevitable, but to stay afraid is by choice," Hiccup echoed her words. Elsa's eyes widened at this and her mouth was open to say something but she was speechless.

"After all, look what you've accomplished when you're brave. You get to fly!" Hiccup laughed.

It was a funny thing. She advised the Viking King to be brave but she herself didn't heed her own advice. But Hiccup was right, she was right according to her advice anyway. She could stay afraid but where will that get her? She was isolated from the world for most of her life because she was afraid, because she chose to stay afraid.

No more. It was time to heed her own advice.

Elsa smiled and agreed. To ride a dragon and fly required a degree of bravery. She has already accomplished this far so why not go further?

"Alright, but if anything happens because of my powers, don't say that I didn't warn you. It will be your fault," Elsa said and Hiccup grinned.

"Well, what can I say, I'm a bad influence," Hiccup said and turned forward.

**(Accompaniment Soundtrack: Go Do by J**ónsi**)**

'Oh, how right you are,' Elsa thought and she took off her right glove. The strong wind tore it away from her hands and she gasped. Elsa turned to look at where the gloves went and expected to feel worry. Instead, she felt relief just like 2 years ago on the top of the Northern Mountain.

Elsa smiled and took off her left glove but she hold on to it harder this time. She gazed at it for a moment before she released her hold and the gloves flew away, just like her worry and fear. Elsa then put her hands up and reached for the clouds.

Almost everyone, including Elsa have tried to imagine what it would feel like to touch the clouds. Now, Elsa doesn't have to imagine anymore. She used to think that the clouds were like cotton balls but it wasn't like that. It felt like touching nothing but its presence can still be felt with its lingering dampness and cold.

Still, it didn't stop her from waving her arms as if trying to catch the clouds. Hiccup glanced at Elsa and smiled. He then nudged Toothless to go up and they flew higher into the cloud layer.

Elsa gasped as her view was suddenly engulfed in white for a moment. Her vision then cleared and she gasped again when she saw the scenery in front of her.

It was an ocean of clouds and it was something that Elsa never have imagined before. Before this, to her clouds were the ceiling of the world and nothing, except for the heavenly bodies and tall mountains could ever hope to be on top of it.

And now, the clouds, something that were always on top, has become an ocean.

"It's…amazing," Elsa said in amazement.

"Yup. Hey Elsa, you're afraid of letting your powers show, right? Why not try using them now?" Hiccup suggested.

At first Elsa wanted to argue against it but then she didn't see any harm with it. The Snow Queen then let loose a short burst of snow from her hand in front of her. The Viking King then cheered at seeing the sparking powder fell to the clouds and Toothless shot a blast of plasma forward as well, as if to celebrate as well.

Elsa smiled and shot more snow above them, sprinkling them with the white powder. Toothless eyes darted around as if trying to see all the snow before he smirked. The dragon did a barrel-roll while Elsa was still releasing the stream of snow, effectively making a snow spiral of sorts. Elsa gasped but Hiccup and Toothless laughed now that they got light snow frosting on their body.

Elsa giggled before she got an idea. She smirked and shot a burst of snow in front of them. The snow exploded and the snow coalesced into a large snowflake shape in midair.

Hiccup noticed this and urged Toothless forward into the snow construct. Once they've smashed through it, Toothless turned his body around so that he can watch the effect. The snow construct had a gaping hole in its middle and Toothless let out a happy cry.

Toothless turned forward again and another cry could be heard. "Elsa! Have you seen a whale jump from the ocean before?" Hiccup asked.

"Only in books!" Elsa said and wondered in excitement what Hiccup was going to show to her.

"Well, now you're going to see a sky whale jumping out from the ocean of clouds!" Hiccup said and pointed at the clouds. "I advise not to call Fafnir that, however,"

Elsa giggled. Suddenly, Fafnir broke though the ocean of clouds like a majestic beast of the sky. The 'sky whale' then let out a long cry as it did so and its body and wings has trail of clouds following it. Fafnir spun in the air and Elsa could hear the excited screams of her sister and, surprisingly, Kristoff. Fafnir stopped spinning and fell with his back facing the clouds. Soon, the clouds consumed the 'sky whale' and they are out of sight again.

"That was…" Elsa couldn't finish as no words could describe what she had felt.

"I know. You should see larger dragons do it. It's more epic!" Hiccup said before he turned around. "So, ready to do the advanced stuff?" The Viking King asked again.

Elsa smiled. "Sure. Besides, if anything happens you are entirely at fault!"

Hiccup laughed and faced forward again. "Ready?"

Elsa nodded. "Yes!"

Suddenly, Toothless stopped flapping and let out an excited roar before they began to fall in an uncontrollable spiral. Elsa couldn't keep her eyes open lest it would make her very dizzy. She was already dizzy enough from the motions so she just hugged Hiccup's waist and excitedly screamed on his back.

Elsa expected to be afraid and she was except that it wasn't as great as before. If anything, now the fear was telling her that she is _alive._ The fact that she dared to do something that was scary, to do something even though she was afraid, felt…_wonderful, amazing_ and _uplifting_.

What was more, there was only a minuscule amount of frost on her hands.

They broke through the cloud layer and Toothless corrected himself so that now they are spinning in a controlled spiral. They were moving even faster and Elsa's dizziness intensifies but not enough to make her puke, thankfully.

Toothless then pulled into the air and they climbed again. "You ok?" Hiccup asked.

Elsa held her head with a hand. "Yeah, just a bit dizzy,"

"You'll get over it. I'm surprised that you didn't puke!" Hiccup smiled. "In fact, I think you have a talent for this!"

"Perhaps," Elsa smiled.

"Say, I've got an idea! Why don't you pelt the other team with snowballs?" Hiccup suggested.

"That is a bad idea," Elsa said before she grinned. "But I like it,"

Hiccup grinned and they began started their hunt. It didn't take long to spot Fafnir who was doing a loop in the air and Toothless then flew towards the large dragon with great speed. Elsa couldn't help but notice that Anna and Kristoff were standing on Fafnir!

She was a bit jealous. Now she wanted to try and stand on a dragon too! Oh well, she was about to get her revenge.

Once Fafnir has completed the loop, Toothless turned his body upside down so that Elsa could take a clear shot.

Toothless sped by Fafnir quickly but it was enough for Elsa.

"Els-!" Anna couldn't finished as she and the others were pelted by snowballs.

"Elsa!" Anna screamed, the victim of a dragon fly-by shooting. "That's not fair!" Fafnir voiced his disagreement as well with a roar.

Elsa laughed while Hiccup was really impressed. The Snow Queen managed to hit her target even when they were moving very fast and upside down no less. Of course, they were point blank targets but still…maybe she really has talents for dragon riding and flying after all.

Toothless righted himself again and was flying around for another shot. The black dragon then closed in on the red dragon and Hiccup leaned forward to reduce air-resistance. Elsa did the same but her hands was ready in front of her.

They weren't even close when Elsa let loose a barrage of snowballs at the 'enemy' dragon. Fafnir didn't avoid in time because he expected for them to shoot point blank, causing them to be pelted again.

They flew past the dragon again and Elsa could hear multiple sounds. Fafnir roared again, Anna laughed, Kristoff just let out a 'hey!' and Sigurd let out a curse, something that Elsa never thought he was capable of.

Nevertheless, Elsa laughed again and spread her arms before releasing a stream of snow.

"Elsa! Look!" Hiccup said and pointed towards the horizon.

Elsa turned her attention towards it and saw the setting sun. Hiccup climbed higher so that they were above the clouds again and Elsa could see the sun slowly disappearing below the ocean of clouds.

It was amazing. In all of her life, sunset was just the sun disappearing into the ocean. But now, she could see a sunset where the sun disappears into a different kind of ocean. Hiccup nudged Toothless and the dragon turned around and fell backwards again. Falling upside-down was a surreal experience and perhaps, falling was just anyway way of flying.

Elsa didn't close her eyes as they broke the cloud layer and what she saw was mind-boggling. Now the ocean and the Earth itself became the ceiling or the cloud! The sun wasn't setting, but it was rising into it! The sun then disappeared into the 'cloud' like one of those cloudy sunrises she would often see.

Hiccup however, was distracted by something else. Before the sun was gone, Hiccup noticed something that reflected the sun's final ray of the day. That something was big and shiny.

The world became dark and Elsa was quiet. "So, how was it?" Hiccup asked.

"Breathtaking…mind blowing," Elsa said. Hiccup smiled before urging Toothless to fly towards the place where that 'something' was located.

Elsa broke out of her reverie when she noticed that Hiccup was flying them towards a familiar location…

"Woah! Is that…is that an ice castle?!" Hiccup asked in amazement and surprise.

"Yes, yes it is," Elsa answered.

"Did you build it? Wait, of course you did!" Hiccup said.

"That is correct,"

"That is awesome!" Hiccup said and Elsa blushed. She didn't think that she could impress someone that wasn't afraid of her powers, and was amazing in many ways than herself.

"Do you want to see it up close?" Elsa offered. She felt that it was only right. Hiccup had shown her so many amazing things and had opened her eyes, mind and world. Elsa wanted to return the favor, even if to her, it wasn't minuscule to what Hiccup had done for her.

"Are you sure? It's getting late," Hiccup asked.

"Just a short tour. It won't be long," Elsa said.

Hiccup hesitated for a moment. He was curious about the wonderful construct but on the other hand, it was already night and he was quite sure that there was no else inside the ice castle.

Which means that he would be alone with the Queen.

"You don't have to do this to return the favour, you know," Hiccup said and Elsa was caught by surprise for a moment. The Viking King was perceptive.

"Perhaps, but I still want to. I insist, Hiccup, let me show you my castle," Elsa said.

"Uhh…" had it been a male that uttered those words, it would sound creepy. But this was Elsa, so it wasn't like she was going to do anything bad to him…right?

"Alright…if you're alright with it," Hiccup answered and Elsa smiled.

"I am alright with it, so let's go!" Elsa said. Hiccup shrugged and directed Toothless towards the ice castle.

**…**

Meanwhile, before the sunset, a certain Princess and her Ice Master was having their own fun as well.

"Woooohoooo!" Anna screamed as Fafnir climbed higher and higher into the sky. Kristoff however, just hugged Anna tighter.

Their dragon stopped ascending just below the cloud layer and Anna's hands instantly shot towards it. "Kristoff, look! Clouds!"

Kristoff smiled at Anna's enthusiasm. He didn't like flying, mostly because he liked to think himself as a grounded person but for the Princess, he'll fly if he has to. Kristoff grinned as he put his hands aon Anna's waist and raise her up, causing her to be smothered by the clouds.

Anna gasped before she laughed and Kristoff pulled her back down. "Kristoff!" she lightly elbowed the mountain main.

"Alright, so do you want to try and stand on Fafnir?" Sigurd asked and Anna's eyes brightened.

"Yes! Yes please!" Anna asked and Kristoff sighed.

"Kristoff you go first. Unhook your safety cable, reach for the spine behind you, stand up and hook your cable to it," Sigurd instructed and Kristoff nodded.

Surprisingly, Fafnir was stable even though it flapped its wings occasionally. Kristoff took of his safety cable attached to the saddle, turned around and grabbed the nearest spine, stood up and attached the cable to the attachment on the spine.

"Alright, you're next feisty pants. Don't try and fall. There's not enough snow down there to save your pretty face," Kristoff said and Anna stuck her tongue at him.

Anna did as instructed but at much slower pace. Kristoff held his hand out and Anna took it before he directed her to the other side of the dragon. Anna grabbed the spine and quickly attached the safety cable before letting out a "Phew!"

"That wasn't so hard!" Anna beamed, proud of herself.

"Of course not. Now enjoy the ride," Sigurd said and directed Fafnir to tilt his body a little bit towards Anna's side so that her view wasn't obstructed by his wings. Anna gasped as she took in the scenery and feel of it.

Standing on top of a dragon was definitely a different feeling than just sitting on it. The risk was greater and thus, the fear that her body felt was intensified but Anna relished in the feeling. It was a sign that she is still _alive._

Furthermore, what she saw was mind-boggling. Arendelle, her whole world, her home was so _small. _She always knew it was small however. She just didn't know how small. Anna extended a hand and she found out that at this distance, Arendelle could fit on her palm!

"I'm on top of the world!" Anna screamed. "And I'm the queen of the world!"

Kristoff smiled. "Ambitious much?"

Anna stuck her tongue out again.

"Hang on to the spine!" Sigurd instructed and they both complied. Fafnir then spun around and made a loop, earning a cry of excitement from the passengers. Once the loop was finished, Sigurd turned around to face them. "So, do you want to fall?" he asked and Anna's eyes was wide as saucers.

"Yes Yes Yes!" Anna said excitedly and Kristoff could only sigh.

"Alright, Kristoff. You don't get to fall," Sigurd said and Kristoff gave him a surprised look.

"You're going to catch her. It's easy for me to catch someone falling, but two at the same time is too risky," Sigurd answered and Kristoff was a bit disappointed yet at the same time, relieved. "Or do you want to fall too? But I have to catch you though," Sigurd smirked.

"Err…I'll pass, thanks," Kristoff said and Anna gave him a grin. Kristoff just shook his head at her antics.

"Alright, get ready Anna," Sigurd said and they climbed higher. "When I say so, you can unhook your cable and jump,"

Anna just nodded and was preparing herself. They broke through the clouds and they saw Toothless and his passengers in the distance. It doesn't seem that they were aware of them however.

"Ready!" Sigurd said and Anna didn't have time to think about her sister for the moment. "Now!"

Anna unhooked her cable and released her hold on the dragon's spine. She let gravity take hold of her and she began to fall backwards. Fafnir floated in the air for a few seconds before it dived after her. Watching the beast chasing after her gave her and incredible feeling. It was as if she was just another dragon and they were playing a game of tag.

Anna could hear and feel the winds pushing against her and she let out an excited scream. She then turned her body to face the ground and she could see the ground rushing at her. It was a strange sight, for grounds don't move, only the things that was on top of it.

It was scary, to suddenly see an immovable object to move at such speed at you. But Anna wasn't completely afraid.

Soon, Anna could see Fafnir nearing her and Kristoff holding out his hand at her. Kristoff was nearing her and Anna smiled. "This is amazing!"

Kristoff smiled. "You're amazing!" he said and Anna blushed.

'Stupid mountain man, making me blush at a time like this," Anna thought but she held out her hand as well. They caught each other's hand and Kristoff pulled her in, righted her body and embraced her in a hug.

"Gotcha!" Kristoff said.

"My charming and pungent Reindeer King!" Anna giggled before Kristoff rolled his eyes at the nickname but any retort was silenced when Anna kissed Kristoff's cheek.

Fafnir pulled into the air and was about to climb higher again when suddenly, they saw Hiccup falling down from the sky, followed by Elsa and Toothless a few seconds later.

"Huh, I thought that it would be Elsa that would fall, not the other way around," Anna commented.

"Yup," Kristoff said and nodded.

They followed the pair and noticed that Elsa was trying to reach Hiccup but she hesitated. Anna began to worry; could Elsa's fear get the better of her again?

Hiccup then extended his hand and it took Elsa a second before she grabbed it, pulling Hiccup to her and they both pulled into the air again.

Anna let out a breath of relief that she didn't realize she was holding. Toothless pulled into the air approached the cloud layer. It took a while but Elsa finally took off her gloves and reached for the clouds. Anna smiled and watched as they went through the cloud layer.

Sigurd then examined the clouds and found a particular spot that he liked. He then urged Fafnir to fly towards it. The dragon then let out a roar before heading towards a rather thick cloud. Fafnir pulled in his wings and began to spin in the air as they break through the cloud.

Anna and Kristoff was engulfed by white for a moment before the sky greeted them again. The dragon roared while Anna and Kristoff screamed excitedly while holding on to each other. Fafnir then stopped his spin and fall backwards.

They broke though the cloud layer again and Fafnir righted himself and began to fly as if it was being chased by an imaginary foe, making Anna and Kristoff to laugh excitedly. Knowing that Elsa was finally having her own good time, Anna and Kristoff decided to focus on their own ride.

A few minutes later, Fafnir was doing a loop when Anna realized that Toothless was closing in on them.

"Els-" Anna couldn't finish as Toothless flew upside down at great speed and suddenly, they were pelted by snowballs.

"Elsa!" Anna said and brushed away the snow. "That's not fair!" Fafnir roared, Kristoff mumbled something and Sigurd just wordlessly shook of the snow. Elsa's reply was just a laugh however.

Still, Anna couldn't help but to smile.

They then saw Toothless began to circle back towards them. Once the Night Fury has completed his turn, the dragon sped again.

"Oh no you don't! Sigurd said and tried to avoid at the last minute. However they were taken by surprise by Elsa's medium ranged attack and was pelted by snowballs again. Everyone voiced what they thought of the situation and The Snow Queen laughed again before she released a stream of snow, as if to celebrate her victory.

Everyone shook of the snow from their body before Sigurd speak again. "Look over there," Sigurd pointed towards the horizon where the sun was setting.

"Beautiful…" Anna said, relishing in the scenery.

"It is," Kristoff said, focusing more on the Princess than the sunset.

A few moments later, they saw Toothless falling backwards from the clouds. When the sun has disappeared, Toothless pulled up into the air again. After a short while, Anna then noticed that they were flying away from the royal castle.

"Where are they going?" Kristoff asked.

"I think…I think they're going to the Ice Castle," Anna said.

"What? But it's getting late! Shouldn't we at least go there as well?" Kristoff asked.

Anna didn't reply for a moment before she shook her head. "No, I-Elsa knows what she's doing. Let them be alone,"

Kristoff didn't believe it. "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry. Hiccup knows what he's doing as well," Sigurd said.

"Well…true but I'm more worried about the people in the royal castle. They won't like this," Kristoff said.

"And that is where I come in!" Anna said with a smile. "Besides, it's just one night,"

"A lot can happen in a night," Kristoff rolled his eyes. 'Give me one night with you and I'll show you what I mean,' he blushed.

"True, so let's give her just that," Anna said as she watched Toothless closing in on the Ice Castle or as Anna would like to call it, the Frozen Heart, in a good way of course. However, she didn't dare called it that when Elsa was around though. "Come on Sigurd. Let's go back to the royal castle,"

Sigurd nodded and Anna took one last look at the ice castle.

The Night Fury flew closer towards the Ice Castle and soon, the Viking King will enter the Snow Queen's Frozen Heart.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Oh my! Elsa has invited Hiccup into her Ice Castle, where they would be alone! Okay, technically, Marshmallow and Toothless will be there but still!

**1) **If you've watched the 5 minutes trailer of HTTYD2, the part where Hiccup is riding with Toothless, a song by Jonsi with a remix/dash of HTTYD soundtrack could be heard playing. I wanted to use that song originally but since it is not out yet, so I have to settle with something else.

Fortunately, Jonsi's other works, the Go Do song sound quite similar. In fact, I sort of like it more. The tune of the song and the lyrics sort of matched with the setting. The lyrics wasn't about flying per se, but rather…the bravery to do something new and to be yourself. It matches with Elsa's brave decisions in the story.

Of course, this might change when I can hear fully HTTYD2's soundtrack.

**2) **On another note, the part where Elsa was trying to catch the falling Hiccup would be awesome for artwork! It could be the story's cover image as well! Man, I wish I could draw…

**Read and Review!**


	15. Chapter 14: Into The Frozen Heart

**Author's Note: **As always, you guys are awesome!

Now, it seems that my gmail not receiving any notification from FanFictiondotNet at all. This means any PMs, reviews and others are blind to me unless I check it manually here, which...I rarely do because of busy schedule. So for those that PMed me and have yet to receive any reply, it is because of the reason stated before. But don't worry, I'll reply to it! It's just going to be a little bit late so please be patient with me.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 14 – Into the Frozen Heart<strong>

The Night Fury landed a few meters away from the staircase leading to the Ice Castle and his rider, the Viking King wasted no time in getting off.

"My lady," he curtly bowed at the dragon's remaining rider, the Snow Queen. Hiccup held out his hand with a grin and Elsa giggled.

"Oh my, a chivalrous Viking! That is a rare sight," Elsa said and took his hand. Not that Elsa needed any help in getting off from Toothless, in fact, she suspect Hiccup knew it as well but she decided to humor him.

"You only know of that fact now? After hours of knowing me?" Hiccup said in mock hurt and it was Elsa smirked.

"Considering how our first encounter went? Yes," Elsa said and Hiccup sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Now follow me,"

The Snow Queen then began to climb the staircase followed by The Viking King and Night Fury. Because the staircase was narrow, they had to walk in line. Elsa was at the front followed by Hiccup and Toothless.

"Now, I must warn you," Elsa said and Hiccup perked up at the word warning. "This castle is protected by a guardian. A large snowman to be precise,"

"Wuh?" Hiccup said, making Elsa turn around. When she did however, she met one of the funniest scene in her life.

Hiccup had one of the funniest look of disbelief on his face and what was more, Toothless' head peered from his side and mirrored his rider's look. Toothless grumbled and Elsa could guess what the question was.

'A snowman?'

Elsa pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing. It was a rare sight to see someone like Hiccup who was so accustomed to weird, crazy and not-normal stuff to be perplexed by something such as a magical snowman.

"You have a snowman…guarding your ice castle…" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.

"Yes?" Elsa asked, as if questioning Hiccup's question about her choice of a magical snowman as a guardian.

"Well…I…sort of question the effectiveness of a snowman as a guardian?" Hiccup asked her in a timid way much like a person who was afraid of another's wrath.

It was then that Elsa realized that Hiccup wasn't perplexed by the concept of a magical snowman, but rather the concept of using it as a guardian entity. In other words, he and the dragon was perplexed by her choice of use for the snowman.

Elsa was speechless for a moment and was a bit angry at the revelation. Granted, Marshmallow did fail in preventing Hans from getting to her but considering that was his first time in combat. Since then Marshmallow had receive a huge upgrade. Still…

Marshmallow was her creation! To say less of him is to say less of her!

Elsa glared at Hiccup and both Viking and dragon felt the temperature dropping. Toothless shrank back a little but Hiccup stood his ground. "Are you questioning my snowman's ability as a guardian?"

"…yes…?" Hiccup croaked. "Well, you can't blame me, I mean snowmen are…cute! A…a harmless fun with snow!"

"I see, well allow me to demonstrate then," Elsa said and began to climb the stairs again. Hiccup gulped, more afraid of Elsa than some snowman that he had never met. He turned at Toothless who had the same idea. Hiccup shrugged and followed Elsa.

Once they have reached the top of the stairs, Hiccup and Toothless was awed by the sight of the Ice Castle. "Woooaaah," Hiccup said and Toothless growled in the same fashion.

Elsa who was waiting nearby, smiled at the reaction. It almost made her forget what she wanted to do. _Almost._

"Well, here we are. My Ice Castle or as the Royal Ice Master would called it, the Fortress of Solitude," Elsa explained.

"So uh…" Hiccup said and his eyes wandered around in search of the snowman.

Elsa smiled and walked towards a huge lump of snow. "Marshmallow,"

Normally, the huge snowman would wait when someone was near before suddenly showing himself which would scare the daylights out of them. However, hearing the voice of his creator or mother, the snowman appeared calmly.

"Mama!" Marshmallow said. It made Elsa's heart to jump with joy at being called that but sometimes it caused her pain as well. For it was a reminder that she might not and most likely would not have a human child from her own womb. That was because knowing that her child might have the same powers and burden as her…it was a cruel and selfish thing for her to do to the child.

So instead, Marshmallow and Olaf became the children that she could never have.

Marshmallow hugged her gently for a moment before releasing her. "How are you?" she asked and Marshmallow beamed.

"Fine," Marshmallow drawled. Marshmallow was a strange snowman compared to Olaf. You could say that they were polar opposites of each other. Olaf could not stand being alone while Marshmallow loved it. Well, considering that Marshmallow was created when she desired to be left alone...it was a sad thing, knowing that Elsa had condemned the snowman to be that way.

Elsa broke out of her musing when Marshmallow turned his attention towards her guests. He growled and Elsa calmed him down. "Calm down, they are with me and they're _harmless_,"

Hiccup who was watching the rather motherly interaction, wasn't very impressed by the snowman, despite its size. Then he and Toothless were called harmless and they were taken aback by it. Toothless snorted and Hiccup placed his hands on his hips. "_Harmless? _Us? Compared to your overgrown snowman here?"

At that, Marshmallow roared at them and his body suddenly grew ice plates all over him, especially on the legs, forming a protective armor of ice. What was more, ice spikes then grew from the armor, making close range approach risky.

"Woah!" Hiccup and Toothless was startled but the dragon recovered quickly and began to hiss. He was about to release a blast of plasma when Marshmallow used his left hand to swipe the snow on the ground at them. Distracted, Toothless didn't release his plasma blast but Marshmallow wasn't finished. He threw two large snowballs at them, covering them in huge pile of snow.

Both Night Fury and Viking King didn't have time to react when large hands wrapped around their body in a strong grip and soon, they were facing a very angry snowman. Toothless hissed in defiance but Marshmallow roared back and this time, his mouth was filled with sharp ice spikes which was a little bit too close for comfort.

Toothless immediately flattened his ears, his eyes grew wide and he whined in submission. Hiccup choose not to do anything that would aggravate the _certainly-not-harmless _snowman. "We're harmless! We're harmless! We are totally absolutely harmless! Heck, I'd rename Toothless Harmless if you want to!"

Toothless glared at his master as a silent objection and Elsa laughed at what had happened. "Marshmallow, that's enough. You've done well in proving your point,"

Marshmallow nodded and gently let the two down. Hiccup began to dust off the snow while Toothless just shook his body. When that was finished, Hiccup took a good look at Marshmallow, who was still eyeing them critically.

Hiccup shook his head with a smile. "A scary snowman, who would have thought of that! I stand corrected," Hiccup said at and Elsa nodded with a smile. "You're awesome big guy," Hiccup said and carefully patted Marshmallow's hands and Marshmallow's features softened a bit.

"Marshmallow, they are my guests and I'm going to give them a tour inside the castle. Do you want to come inside?" Elsa asked and Marshmallow shook his head.

"Marshmallow guard!" the snowman answered and Elsa smiled sadly.

"Alright," Elsa nodded. "Do come in," the Snow Queen turned and walked towards the castle doors.

"Keep up the good work, big guy!" Hiccup said and followed Elsa. Toothless eyed the snowman warily but Marshmallow nudged him forwards.

With a swing of her hand, the ice doors opened without making contact with the Snow Queen's hands and she stepped inside. The Viking King and Night Fury followed and they were very impressed. Not that Hiccup had seen any ice castle before in his life but he had a gist of how ice structures usually would look like.

He'd been ice caves before and they usually have stalactites or defects in the ceiling and walls caused by the melting ice or buildup frost. However, Hiccup didn't see any of those at all. In fact, the ice structure was unlike anything he had ever seen. Usually, the ice that he was used to was cloudy but Elsa's ice most of it was clear. If anything it resembled crystals more than anything else.

Of course, the walls can't be truly clear or it will be seen through from the outside but it still didn't stop the ice from having shapes and patterns inside it! What was more, those patterns were of different colour! As far as he knew, it was currently impossible to design ice structures like these.

"How is that possible?" Hiccup asked and examined the floor. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't cold. "And it's not cold?"

"Well, I'm not the only occupant of this castle. Sometimes other people would come and they don't share my resistance to cold," Elsa explained.

"The reason makes sense but…how?" Hiccup asked again and Elsa shrugged.

"I can't explain how…it just happen according to my will. I can create various types of ice," Elsa asked and Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her. Elsa smiled.

**…**

"What in the world? A kitchen?! A working kitchen inside an ice castle?!" Hiccup said in astonishment as he examined the kitchen.

"And kitchen utensils made from ice! It works just like their normal counterparts," Elsa said and took a frying pan. Hiccup gave her a skeptical look.

"Are you saying that I can cook with these?" Hiccup took the frying pan and knocked on it a few times. The sound was differently from a normal frying pan.

"Yes," Elsa smirked.

Hiccup laughed at that. "Magical snowman as a guardian I can believe. But a frying pan made from ice? That's stretching things too far!"

Elsa giggled. "You're free to test it if you want,"

Hiccup shook his head. "Are you this is ice and not something else? Like…maybe air?"

Elsa titled her head at this. "Air? As if frozen air?"

Hiccup shrugged. "But this is awesome! You know, you could make your own brand of cooking utensils. The brand name could be…Frozen!"

Elsa giggled. "Oh my, I'm afraid you have a Viking's bad naming sense,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at her before putting a hand on his hips. "I do not,"

Then Hiccup remembered he named an island Itchy Armpit but Elsa doesn't need to know that.

"What is that?" Hiccup immediately tried to change the subject and he quickly maneuvered around Elsa to get to the icebox.

"That is the icebox," Elsa said as Hiccup opened the upright rectangular icebox. "It stores food for long periods of time by cooling them,"

"This is…AMAZING!" Hiccup said in awe. "This is ingenious!"

Elsa blushed a little at the praise. "It's nothing. The idea wasn't even original. I mean, if I didn't make the whole castle warmer, then it would be a huge ice box itself. What I did was just…reduce the cold space, that was all,"

"And yet, us Vikings that live in practically, a very huge open air icebox, didn't even thought of this," Hiccup countered. "Then again, we might have been sick of ice already. Still, this is handy! If you could replicate this…"

"I've tried but it only works well because of my powers. The best we could come up with is an icebox whose ice requires change frequently," Elsa explained.

"Eh, good enough I guess when ice is abundant around. Oh look! Fishes!" Hiccup said and Toothless snaked his head around Hiccup to get a look inside and saw a number of whole fishes.

Toothless drooled and Elsa came to see the fishes as well before she grimaced.

"Whole fishes?! And not a single filleted fish?! I can't believe that mountain man!" Elsa said and huffed. Hiccup and Toothless gave her a weird look before the Viking King grinned.

"Not used to holding whole fish?" Hiccup asked and Elsa glared at him.

"Do not, attempt anything…_fishy _with that information!" Elsa warned and Hiccup's chuckled at that.

**…**

The tour then moved on to various parts of the castle and Hiccup was thoroughly impressed all the way. From the different colored rooms, to the balcony that showed Arendelle and the observation tower that can give a 360 view of the whole Kingdom.

It took about an hour to finish the tour and they found themselves on the grand staircase again. It was then Hiccup had an idea.

"Say…have you ever…made a slide before?" Hiccup asked and Elsa smiled.

"I have. When you have Anna for a sister, not making a slide here would be a crime. But after I was finished with them I tend to remove them because it would clash with the interior design," Elsa explained and Hiccup just nodded in understanding with an expectant look. Elsa recognized that look. She sighed and shook her head.

The Snow Queen then waved her hand and the grand staircase rose higher and a long twisting slide materialized. Fortunately, the slide was wide enough to accommodate for Toothless' size.

"Yeah!" Hiccup wasted no time and immediately got down on the slide before yelling in excitement. Toothless eye's widened with excitement and followed soon after.

Elsa watched the duo with a fond smile.

"A man, yet at the same time a child," Elsa shook her head. She then heard laughter and realized that Hiccup and Toothless had reached the bottom and they were urging her to come down using the slide as well.

Elsa complied and went down the slide. She let out a controlled cheer until she reached the bottom only to find that the duo was nowhere to be found. Elsa then looked up and saw that Hiccup and Toothless was already climbing the stairs again.

Elsa waited until Hiccup was on the slide again before she raised the slide's lower portion so that Hiccup would flew into the air. To break his fall, Elsa had conjured for a huge pile of snow on where Hiccup would fall.

Hiccup was surprised by this sudden turn of events and yelped as he flew into the air for a few seconds before crashing into the snow pile. Elsa giggled as she saw a Hiccup shaped hole on the snow. A roar could be heard and Elsa saw a black shadow flew into the snow as well, leaving a Night Fury shaped hole.

A few seconds later, two heads popped out from the snow. Hiccup and Toothless both had a pile of snow on their heads and Toothless had a large grin on his face. Elsa couldn't help but to laugh at the scene.

Hiccup then took a handful of snow and throw it at Elsa. She gasped before being pelted by more snow and soon a snowball fight happened. Elsa conjured more snow around the place for Hiccup to use as cover and ammunition. Elsa didn't need ammo nor cover at all. She didn't bother moving around much as she can deflect incoming snowballs to varying degree of success and conjured more snowballs to throw.

Toothless couldn't throw a snowball of course nor do anything rough to Elsa as he would do with Hiccup. That doesn't mean he couldn't join the fun however. Toothless would often deflect thrown snowballs from Hiccup with his tails, claws, and wings and often act as a mobile cover and distraction.

10 minutes later, Hiccup was lying on the floor, laughing lightly while Elsa was seated on a small pile of snow. Toothless was lying belly up, his legs on the air and with his floor lolling out of his mouth. The sight reminded Elsa of dogs. It was a strange thing as she always thought that the dragon resembled a cat more than anything else.

Well, Sven the Reindeer acted like a dog sometimes.

"You sure know how to have a good time," Hiccup got up to a seating position and said.

Elsa smiled. "Well, when the fun is related to snow, it is true. I'm lacking when it comes to other things, however,"

"That is not true, I like being in your company, with or without snow," Hiccup said and Elsa fought the urge to blush at what he had said.

"I'm sure Anna is a much more enjoyable company than me," Elsa said.

Hiccup shrugged. "It depends on the person I guess. Anna is energetic sure, but I already have a lot of energetic company at home. Someone like you is a refreshing pace and a rare experience from where I come from,"

Elsa smiled a bit wider this time. "You flatterer,"

"I'm just saying the truth," Hiccup smiled before he turned his head around the foyer. "You know, it feels like there's something missing here,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow but before she can ask anything else, Hiccup got to his feet and went to the frozen ice fountain in between the grand staircase. "You should have an ice statue!" Hiccup said.

Elsa only gave him a blank look before looking away. The thought did crossed her mind to make ice statues for decorations and it was even suggested by Anna and Kristoff. But then she remembered how Anna was turned into one. If anything, making ice statues was a reminder of the worst thing that could happen with her powers. It wasn't the blizzard or dangerous ice, but how she could literally freeze people. She didn't mind using her powers, as long as it didn't hurt people.

Remembering how she used to freeze Anna still haunts her dream.

Unfortunately, Hiccup didn't realized Elsa's discomfort. "I know! You could start with Toothless!" Hiccup turned towards Elsa.

Elsa gave a weak smile before she waved her hand. A swirl of snow later and a snowman shaped Toothless appeared.

Hiccup looked disappointed. "That's awesome but it's not made from ice," Hiccup stated the obvious as he still fail to notice Elsa's discomfort.

Elsa wanted to say that she wouldn't do it but then Toothless gave her a pleading puppy eye look. She wasn't expecting that. It seems that Toothless wanted to see an ice statue of himself as well. As if that wasn't enough, Toothless let out a pathetic whine like growl and suddenly, Elsa couldn't find in herself to deny the dragon.

She could turn down her own sister but couldn't resist the pleading of a dragon. What does that say about her? Anna would be angry at that!

Elsa sighed and relented. "Alright," she said and got to her feet. She waved her hand and Hiccup and Toothless could see the ice forming slowly. Unlike when building a snowman, the process was slower but it didn't take too long to complete it.

Soon, a real scale ice statue of Toothless appeared. It was sitting on his hind legs, his wings closed and there is a toothless smile on its face. It was the image of when Toothless had accepted her. Elsa then added a few touches to the sculpture; she colored parts of the statue black and green, making it look like a crystal statue.

"Nice!" Hiccup said, examining the flawless work. Toothless happily bounded towards the statue and mimicked its pose. Elsa giggled at this. "Hey bud, maybe I should ride him instead eh?" Hiccup said and he tried to mount the statue.

Toothless growled and Hiccup immediately got off from it. "I don't know whether he is jealous of the statue or that he didn't want me to ruin it,"

"Well, I wouldn't like it if you ruin it either," Elsa said and Hiccup chuckled nervously.

It was the first time she had ever sculptured an ice statue and it felt…_good _at least. She expected to feel bad and wrecked with guilt but thankfully, it wasn't like that.

"Do me next!" Hiccup said and waited expectantly.

This time, Elsa hesitated. Making a statue that wasn't a person was still doable but of a person? That would be a guilt and nightmare triggering moment.

She wanted to refuse. She was ready to refuse. Her right hand was clasped on her chest and she took a step back but then her eyes landed on the statue of Toothless.

The statue's expression was happy unlike what she remembered of Anna's frozen form. Then she saw Toothless sitting beside it looking at her worriedly. He realized Elsa was looking at him and he smiled that Toothless smile again, naturally mimicking the same pose as the statue.

It reminded her that the ice statue wasn't a frozen person or creature but it was just that…a frozen sculpture.

"_I've seen what you can do when you were yourself…when you're not afraid of yourself,"_

Elsa remembered Hiccup words and the fear that was building inside her faded. She smiled and send a bolt of ice on the floor near Toothless' statue. The small patch of ice grew bigger and bigger, taking shapes until a human figure was formed.

The 'Hiccup' statue was…a different Hiccup. In fact, it was the Hiccup in her nightmare she had about him before their first encounter. The statue had a huge muscled body and was covered in leather armor. His left shoulder has a snow leopard's head and its fur was fashioned into a cape. And what was more, it was holding a long two handed sword one hand and it was flaming. The statue's expression was terrifying and it towered over the two humans.

Toothless gave a confused growl and Elsa herself was surprised at the turn of event. How the heck did she created this version of Hiccup?! She must have imagined it sometime during the creation but, but…

Hiccup examined the sculpture silently for a moment. Elsa wanted to explain but Hiccup slowly walked towards the base of the grand staircase, crouched and…_sulked. _

Hiccup then mumbled words that most of it was incoherent to her but she did catch some of it. "Everyone expected me differently…" Toothless then gave her a disappointed look before heading towards Hiccup and placed a paw on his back. He growled soothingly, as if saying calming words at him before he turned his head at her and giving the disappointed look again.

Elsa wasn't supposed to laugh but she couldn't help it! Sure it was her fault in the first place but then the way it turned out in the end was absurd! Hiccup sulked and Toothless comforting him much like how a human would!

Elsa laughed for a moment, earning the attention of the dragon and his rider. "I'm sorry-I'm sorry! It's just! There's a story for this, I swear!" Elsa said.

Hiccup was silent but he gave him a sad look that…made her felt like she had kicked a dog.

'A man, a child and a baby!' Elsa thought. She smiled and she waved a hand at the ice statue again. The statue morphed back to show Hiccup. It was smiling and a hand was placed on its hips. This version of Hiccup was wearing his leather flight armor than the royal attire he wore when he first set foot on Arendelle.

Hiccup saw the statue and happily went beside it. "Now that, is me!"

Elsa giggled. "I don't know, I sort of like the previous you better…" Hiccup's face fell. "…as a statue. I like the real you more as a person,"

Hiccup smiled before he chuckled and he turned towards the statue again. "Still, this is awesome work! I'm surprised that you didn't have more around,"

Elsa didn't answer but instead she examined the statue. The statues didn't make her feel bad but instead it gave her a sort of an epiphany. The statue of Anna that kept haunting her was mostly because of Anna's frozen expression. That look of fear frozen on her face, a reminder of her worst enemy, fear. However, Anna's fear wasn't because of her, but it was for her. Fear for Elsa's safety even though in the end it would mean sacrificing her own well being.

Even then that fear was a product of love. Anna's sacrifice was her act of true love for Elsa. Anna could have choosen not to help her and if Kristoff was too late to help, she would then become a testament of the worst side that came with Elsa's power. However, she didn't and instead, Anna's once frozen form became a testament of her love for Elsa.

The reason why that particular memory kept haunting her as a nightmare was because Elsa kept focusing on the negative parts of the memory.

Of course, most of the memory was indeed negative but in the end it turned out well. Anna thawed because of her love for her and she kept on living to teach Elsa the beautiful side of her powers.

She could let the memory continue haunting her by focusing on the bad that had happen or she could move on by focusing on the good that came from it.

Hiccup and Toothless observed Elsa silently, realizing that she was pondering about something. They didn't have to wait for long before Elsa smiled and she turned towards Toothless. "Thank you Toothless,"

Toothless gave her a puzzled look and Elsa patted her head. Elsa turned towards Hiccup next. "And thank you, Hiccup. You always managed to do crazy and impossible things to me,"

Hiccup also gave her a puzzled look. "Wha-? Literally or figuratively?"

Elsa giggled before she waved at the statue. The statue morphed into the shape of _not-threatening _Marshmallow and Sven on his side with Olaf on top of his head, holding the deer's antlers. All the statues was looking at something happily on the sky.

Toothless' face fall at seeing the disappearing statue but Hiccup was more interested in the turn of event. Elsa didn't say anything and went up the grand staircase. Once she has reached the top, she shot two ice bolts at the support structures on the ceiling.

The two ice then morphed slowly downwards like a stalactite. Once they have reached a certain height, it grew larger until a shape can be seen. The first ice became a large statue of a dragon, Fafnir with Sigurd riding it. The statue of Anna and Kristoff can be seen standing and holding on to the dragon's spine with happy expressions.

The second ice became another statue of a dragon, Toothless this time with Hiccup and Elsa can be riding him and their expression showed happiness as well. Elsa made the ice statues or ice chandelier statues as if they were flying around each other.

Each statue was colored according to their respective counterparts to help differentiate between each statues better than if it was of the same color. The result was that it resembled an crystal chandelier more than ice.

"Woaaaaah," Hiccup's mouth was opened in awe and Toothless mirrored his expression.

Elsa smiled at her work. She have to admit, the ice sculptures gave her ice castle a personality of sorts. Now it didn't look as empty as it was before. Anna would be delighted at this.

They were silent for a while to savour the artwork. Suddenly, a loud grumbling noise can be heard and it came from Hiccup and Toothless.

Elsa giggled. "Do you want to have dinner here, Hiccup?" Elsa offered. She knew it wasn't proper since they were quite alone if you minus Toothless and Marshmallow. They should go back to the castle right now but…Elsa didn't want the moment to end yet.

Such a bold and brave action she just did. It was so unlike her…well the 'her' before.

Hiccup looked hesitant. "Are you sure? I mean…"

"It's fine," Elsa assured.

Hiccup didn't answer and instead looked at Toothless. The Night Fury growled and The Viking King sighed before he shrugged. "Sure, but…" Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck, not looking to all the cooking work that he was about to do.

Elsa smiled. "That's wonderful! Now let us cook!"

Hiccup looked surprised at this. "You can cook?"

"Did you think that the fully stocked kitchen was for show? Besides, what kind of host would I be if I let you do all the work," Elsa said.

"I thought that there would be another snowman that does the cooking," Hiccup said and Elsa giggled. "Still, you do realize that cooking involves fire right?" Hiccup smirked.

Elsa raised an eyebrow at what Hiccup had implied. "Or is your cooking different than what I'm used to?"

"I'll have you know, Hiccup, that my ice does not thaw easily," Elsa smirked.

"Huh, the Snow Queen that cooks. That I have to see," Hiccup said.

"You'd be surprised," Elsa replied.

As Elsa descended down the stairs, Hiccup had to ask one more question. "By the way, what's with the deer and the small snowman?"

Elsa smiled. "It is a long story. We can share it over dinner,"

Hiccup smiled. "That sounds interesting,"

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> What should be a short tour became an overnight stay! What would happen later on at night? Dun dun dun... Should there be lemons? Or there shouldn't be any lemons at all? In fact, you can vote for it! I've set up a poll on my profile page but I'm not sure if it will work. Been a while since I've made one. If the poll is not working, I'll use the reviews instead.

**Read and Review!**


	16. Chapter 15: His Story Part 1

**Author's Note: **Right, so I have a lot of stuff to say, so bear with me! This story has breached the 500 review mark and it is all because of you readers! You readers are awesome! I have even received some artworks!

One is from **DracoWolf316. **You can find his artwork at deviantart /art/Touh-the-Sky-451351966?ga_submit_new=10%253A1398973048

The other is from **Titania-queen-of-fairys**. Her artwork is used as the cover! You people are awesome and I am unworthy!

**YouNameIt:** She might.

**Guest**** (who suggested Jelsa fic):** Probably not, because I don't have the feel for Jelsa. Not that I hate them or anything…it's just…

**Thespurgin****:** There is such theory? I honestly didn't know about that. I decided to give more utility to Elsa's powers because I want to make it a bit different. In fact, I'm going to make other power users to be able to have the different kinds of utility, depending on their imagination and will.

Now, there are something strange in your reviews about the previous chapter regarding the subject of lemons. I found out that you, the readers are mostly perverts! What kind of lemons were you guys thinking about actually? It certainly isn't the lemon that I'm thinking of.

I mean, in the previous chapter Elsa and Hiccup was about to cook dinner and last time I check, the fruit lemon is a cooking ingredient.

So yeah…

Also, some readers told me that they preferred it if I put a warning when I want to start using lemons…so…here goes.

**WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTENT WILL HAVE LEMONS AND HOT COFFEE! FOR THOSE THAT DO NOT LIKE LEMONS OR HOT COFFEE, JUST READ ON BECAUSE IT'S NOT LIKE I'M FORCING YOU TO EAT AN ACTUAL LEMON OR DRINK HOT COFFEE WHEN YOU READ THIS CHAPTER. ALTHOUGH IT MIGHT TRIGGER YOUR BRAIN TO REMEMBER THE TASTE OF LEMON OR HOT COFFEE, WHICH IF IT DID HAPPEN, I AM TERRIBLY SORRY!**

Just kidding! Explanation is on the second author's note below.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 15 – His Story Part 1<strong>

"So how many lemons do you want in this?" Hiccup asked with a knife in his left hand that was hovering over a lemon.

"Just two is enough," Elsa said, watching over Hiccup as he was making their salad dressing. Hiccup nodded and sliced the lemons in half.

"Because it takes two to tango!" Hiccup said with a grin. Elsa smiled and lightly smack his arm to make him focus. Since the both of them were going to contribute to the dinner, they had agreed on each of their roles in the kitchen.

Hiccup offered to make the main dish of steak since there were plenty of meat in the icebox. Elsa agreed although she didn't mind on whatever that Hiccup wanted to cook. Luckily for her, the stock of whole fish will be used for Toothless. She would have to talk with Kristoff about stocking up on only whole fishes and not a single fish fillet.

That leaves Elsa to work with the side dish and dessert which Elsa was glad for. This was because she was proficient at making side dishes and desserts but not so much with the main dish, especially the ones that require meat. Most of the meat that she cook was rather…underwhelming to say the least.

Of course, Elsa's work was supposed to be very easy since she already had made her stock of salad dressing and dessert and stored the icebox. Imagine to her surprise to find that it was gone.

The only suspect that came to her mind was either Kristoff or Anna.

It wasn't much of problem anyway since they were easy to make. It also turned out to be blessing in disguise as Hiccup was interested in her recipe for the salad dressing. So, in order to remember it, he offered to make it himself with her guidance.

The recipe was honey-lemon salad dressing.

"The recipe is simple. Squeeze the two lemons into the cup, put some salt and pepper," Elsa instructed and Hiccup followed it mutely. "Pour one third of olive oil and one third of honey. You don't have to put the honey if you don't like it or you just want a stronger lemon taste. Oh and you can also put in some hot sauce if you like it spicy,"

Hiccup nodded. "Now, you can transfer them in a salad dressing bottle," Elsa said and Hiccup looked lost. The item in question was nowhere in sight.

"Oh my! I forgot! Sorry," Elsa sheepishly said and conjured a salad dressing bottle made from one of her unusual ice crystals. Hiccup shook his head with a smile and he did what he was instructed.

"And now you're done!" Elsa said and clapped her hands together. Hiccup smiled.

"That was easy," Hiccup said and looked at the salad bottle.

"Now don't forget to shake it well before using," Elsa reminded and Hiccup nodded. "Oh and in case you forgot…" Elsa said and with a swirl of her hand, Hiccup felt changes to the side of the bottle. He turned it around and found the recipe etched in different colored ice to make it visible, along with the reminder to shake it before usage.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow and whistled. "That is handy!"

Elsa smiled and felt a bit proud. "It's yours to keep,"

Hiccup smiled. "Thanks. Can't wait to try it,"

Elsa clapped her hands again. "Ah yes! We have the salad dressing, now we need the salad!" Elsa said and began to work on the salad on the counter. Hiccup followed her and placed the salad dressing on the counter. He then took the frozen steak and frozen bread from the counter to examined it.

"It's going to take a while to thaw the meat," Hiccup said. "And wouldn't the bread be soggy after it thaws?"

Elsa didn't say anything but just waved her hand at the frozen food. In an instant, it defrosted and left no trace that it was even frozen in the first place. Hiccup whistled again and Elsa smirked.

"Can I ask something? It's about your powers," Hiccup said as he lightly marinate the meat with just salt, pepper and olive oil. Elsa who was preparing the salad, stopped what she was doing. "I mean, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it,"

Elsa pondered for a moment. There was a high chance that they were going to talk about each other's past and her's was heavily linked with her powers. It was inevitable, so she might as well tell Hiccup everything…well, not all.

"It's alright, I don't mind," Elsa said and Hiccup was silent for a moment before he asked.

"Your powers…it was made public, especially to the rest of the world, right?" Hiccup said and Elsa understood what he meant by the world; the other nations. Elsa nodded. "So, how was the response?"

"It was…not what I had expected," Elsa started and she resumed her work on the salad. "The public opinion of Arendelle was mostly positive, to my surprise. There were some complaints here and there but it wasn't as bad as I expected,"

Hiccup nodded and Elsa continued. "About the rest of the nations, they were harder to handle. Arendelle is a small kingdom such that we barely exist in the map of the big nations. Then suddenly, we just pop out,"

"And not in a good way I suppose?" Hiccup asked as he prepared the meat.

"I would say it is a good and bad thing," Elsa answered. "It is good because the increased attention at least brought more trade to Arendelle. It is bad because…"

"The other nations are afraid of you," Hiccup said.

Elsa nodded. "I received a lot of letters from the other nations. Some ask what my intentions are, some ask for alliance and among others,"

Hiccup then took a pan and gave it a look over before he shrugged and place it on the stove. Surprisingly, the pan made from Elsa's ice didn't melt. "How is that bad? I mean it seems to me they were asking rather nicely,"

"It's true, they did ask nicely but…for how long? I know that they did it because they were afraid of my reaction if they didn't do it nicely. But what happens when they decided that I'm not worth being afraid of anymore?" Elsa answered.

It was a funny thought. She hated being afraid by others and yet, on the world stage, it could be useful.

Hiccup touched the pan and almost burned his finger from the hot ice-pan. He quickly drew it away and shook his hand a few times.

"And I even received letters from the…unsavory ones. Some claim that I am not my father's daughter, that I am a product of sorcery, a deal made with the devil and so on," Elsa said as Hiccup poured some olive oil into the pan.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Hiccup said and gave her a sympathetic look. Elsa smiled at the gesture.

"It's nothing that I can't handle. I'm used to it," Elsa said and Hiccup smiled. He then took the steaks and placed it on the pan and it sizzled wonderfully.

"You know, had my powers were not revealed, I would continue isolating my kingdom from the rest of the world," Elsa continued.

"Well, lucky for me that you didn't do that, huh?" Hiccup said and Elsa smiled.

"What about you? Would you continue with your isolation?" Elsa asked and Hiccup sighed.

"Yes and no. I'll let my people sail away from my kingdom for trading and other purposes but I'm afraid I can't let foreigners into the kingdom," Hiccup answered and Elsa raised an eyebrow at him.

"I won't keep the existence of my people a secret any longer but I still want to keep the dragons a secret for as long as I could," Hiccup said.

"But how?"

"Well, I'm thinking of controlling the goods that can be exported. Absolutely no dragon products such as eggs, meat, horns and others. Those that want to venture outside of the kingdom would also need to make a vow of secrecy about the dragons," Hiccup answered.

Elsa gave him a skeptical look. "It's not going to be foolproof,"

"I know, but it's better than nothing right? It is either that or complete isolation," Hiccup answered and Elsa nodded.

"How long do you think that you could keep the dragons a secret?" Elsa asked.

"It depends. The most optimistic I could give is a hundred years," Hiccup answered.

"That's…quite a short time. I mean, the book said that your village has existed for seven generations and that is more than a century," Elsa said and Hiccup sighed as he checked his steaks. He then added more ingredients to pan which went unnoticed by Elsa.

"True but we're living in changing times. Humans have existed for thousands of years and back then the rate of progress is slow. Now however, everything seems to be accelerating quickly, especially when it comes to war," Hiccup explained and Elsa nodded.

She understood as Arendelle's army was rather outdated compared to other nations. The larger and stronger nations has moved on to firearms and had almost phased away the non-firearm weapons such as crossbows. A large part of Arendelle's army was still use them.

"So what happens then after a century?" Elsa asked. Hiccup was silent as he took out the steaks and placed it on a plate.

"At that time, the concept of dragons as effective war assets is laughable. Trying to use them for war would be like bringing a knife to a gunfight," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying that…"

"Yep, by that time, we humans would have invented weapons of war that are better than dragons. Weapons that could fly faster and higher than dragons could and carry more devastating weapons," Hiccup explained and Elsa paled for a second at the thought.

It was funny and scary thought. Of all the creatures in the world, even with dragons, in the end, it was the humans that would become the worst thing around.

"Still, in a way, it's a good thing because then world wouldn't want to use them as weapons anymore. It still won't stop them from wanting the dragons for other purposes, however," Hiccup shrugged.

"Such as for sports? I know that humans have hunted animals to extinction just because for the thrill of it," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"And for their products such as the horns, tusks, meat and others. I've known cultures that have superstitious belief about the health benefits that you could get from consuming the products of exotic animals," Hiccup added.

"Hmm, but what about the Vikings? They use dragon horns for their helmets," Elsa asked.

"The horned helmets are…you could say a relic when we're still fighting the dragons. I'm trying to phase it out though. Besides, those horned helmets were only useful when fighting against dragons. When angled right, it can prevent a dragon's jaw from closing in your head. That and gives a scare factor against the dragons," Hiccup explained.

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Why is it only useful against the dragons? Why not against other humans as well?"

"That's because humans can grab the horns and…you get the idea. Our horned helmets are easy to knock off in case that kind of thing happens," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded in understanding. "Well, the steak is ready!"

"I'm just about done as well," Elsa said. "Now, that leaves the drinks," Elsa then went to the storage cupboard to see their choices.

"Let's see, we can have tea, hot coffee-"

"Hot coffee?" Hiccup said. "You like hot coffee?"

"No, not really. I'm more of a tea and hot chocolate person. Do you like it?" Elsa asked, eyeing the beverage. Anna was also the same as her, preferring hot chocolate over coffee. This makes it likely that it was Kristoff that put the coffee there. Unfortunately, her stock of hot chocolate was depleted, most likely because of Anna and Kristoff didn't replenish it!

Hiccup chuckled. "Not by its own. Either with lots of milk or sugar,"

Elsa smiled and she went towards the icebox to look for other beverages that might be in store. "Do your kingdom have coffee?"

Hiccup shook his head. "Nope. We caught wind of it when Trader Johann brought it. He thought that it might be a hit with the Vikings but the black color and bitter taste was a turn off. That and it makes certain people hyperactive,"

Elsa knew what the certain people meant. "Trader Johann?"

Hiccup nodded. "He's the very few traders that were brave enough to get into the Viking Archipelago before the kingdom was formed. And he's still among the very few traders allowed to get in,"

Elsa nodded and found chilled water and juices in the icebox. There wasn't any wine in the castle at all as Elsa didn't want to get drunk and risk losing control of her powers. That and it wasn't a good idea to consume it right now even if there is any.

"We have chilled water and juices and I can make cold tea or coffee with milk. What would you like?" Elsa offered.

"I guess juice would be nice," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded as she took out the juices.

"Alright, I believe we have everything ready!" Elsa said and Hiccup smiled.

**…**

"This is good!" Hiccup commented on the salad and Elsa smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you. Your steak is delicious as well," Elsa said. The both of them decided to just eat at the kitchen counter instead of at the dining hall. It was a quite a refreshing pace for Elsa.

Hiccup thanked at the compliment as well before turning towards Toothless. "How about you bud? Enjoying your meal?"

Toothless growled happily in reply as he devoured the raw fishes prepared for him. Elsa smiled at the interaction and she was secretly glad that the stock of whole fishes has been depleted. What she didn't know however was that Hiccup has saved one for a special occasion he had planned.

"If I may be so bold, may I know about your story, Hiccup?" Elsa started, causing Hiccup to look at her. "I would like to know more about the enigmatic-"

Hiccup choked on that part. Elsa patted him on the back and hand him a glass of juice. Hiccup accepted it gratefully.

"-Viking King who is also the Dragon Conqueror and I find that your book was a bit lacking in the finer details,"

"Wow, um, enigmatic? Me?" Hiccup almost stuttered and blushed a little at being called that. "Well, if I spill the beans then I wouldn't be enigmatic and mysterious anymore, right?"

"Hmm, that is true. However, as much as I like a good mystery, I like solving it more. Isn't that the same for everyone?" Elsa said with a small smile as she slowly brought a piece of steak into her mouth. Hiccup gulped at watching the display before replying.

"That's true as well. Alright, so if I tell you my story, you'll have to tell yours as well," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded. "So where to start?" Hiccup looked away and stabbed at his last piece of steak as he pondered where to begin. "I lost my mother ever since I was a baby,"

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that," Elsa offered her condolence. She too, lost her mother but not as young as Hiccup. Still, she didn't expect for the story to begin sadly so quick. Hiccup waved it away however.

"Nah, she's not dead. In fact, we got her back when I was 19," Hiccup said and Elsa almost sweat dropped.

"I don't understand," Elsa asked and Hiccup chuckled.

"I'm not good at telling the story of my life," Hiccup sighed and ran a hair through his hair before trying again.

"Well, my mother, Valka was abducted by a dragon during a dragon raid when I was still a baby," Hiccup began. Elsa only nodded in response. "Ever since then, it has always been me and my dad, Stoic the Vast for 19 years,"

"Your father didn't remarry?" Elsa asked and Hiccup shook his head.

"There's only one woman in his life and heart that he could take as his wife. Besides, he didn't believe that my mother could have died that easily. Looks like his belief paid off in the end, huh?" Hiccup said rather sadly and Elsa understood why. It wasn't that Hiccup resented the fact that his father chose not to marry another woman and gave him a mother but rather, it was a reflection of his own situation.

How Hiccup lost Astrid, how he believed that she was still out there, alive and was waiting for him to find her and how there could only be one woman in his life that he could love as wife.

Like father, like son.

"It must be hard, to live without a mother for such a long time," Elsa asked and Hiccup shrugged.

"It is. My dad didn't know what to do with me most of the time back then. It's hard for him to do it alone. It's not like he was being selfish by not…finding a replacement. He did try but he just couldn't. He blamed himself for the disappearance of my mother," Hiccup explained.

"And seeing another woman becoming my mother when it should be her…or thinking that when she did come back and suddenly found herself replaced…" Hiccup continued and Elsa nodded.

It would feel like the greatest betrayal. Still, it didn't change the fact that Hiccup was deprived of a mother for most of his life.

"That and there's not a lot of woman that can stand my dad," Hiccup grinned.

"I understand, but…I'm sorry to say this but it wasn't just about him or your mother, it was about you as well. I understand that it was a hard thing to do, but to deny you a mother when you were so young…" Elsa voiced her thoughts.

"Eh, I didn't mind. I mean, I did mind back then and have wished many times that I could have a mother but…everything turned out alright in the end," Hiccup shrugged. Elsa wanted to argue but Hiccup didn't give her a chance. "If anything, I'm lucky. Sure I have to wait 19 years, but I got my mother back. Most don't have that luxury,"

Elsa closed her mouth and looked away. She was fortunate for most of her life even though it wasn't as happy as she had hoped it would be. It was still more than most would get.

Hiccup noticed the growing discomfort and decided to continue with the story. He chuckled before continuing. "I was the odd one in the village. Do you know that the name Hiccup was also given to the litter of the runt?"

Elsa turned to him again. "That's a cruel thing to do!"

"Well, depends. It doesn't always mean that and I'm sure parents didn't name their children that just for spite," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a curious look.

"And you were named Hiccup because?"

"My mother would often had hiccups when she was pregnant with me," Hiccup smirked. "It got so bad that she foiled a dragon raid because they were scared of her hiccups,"

Elsa gave him a disbelieving look. "You're bluffing!"

"That's what I was told," Hiccup said and Elsa giggled. "Besides, the name wasn't so bad. If anything it has sort of a…dual nature to it. A Hiccup can either do great things or bad,"

"Like what you did?" Elsa smiled and Hiccup shrugged.

"I'm sure the name Hiccup would be very popular in the future," Hiccup smiled. "Besides, we Hiccups tend to be smarter than your average Vikings,"

"Oh? Are you speaking only about yourself?" Elsa asked with a grin and Hiccup returned it.

"Well, we have Hamish the Second. His name wasn't Hiccup but he's still a hiccup. He made a puzzle so hard that many Vikings lost their limbs, life and sanity trying to search for it. Heck, it almost cost my dad his friendship with his best friend, Gobber," Hiccup explained. "I solved the puzzle of course, because only a hiccup can solve it,"

Elsa giggled. "Sure, I believe you. Still, I hope that you won't name your son Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Fourth,"

"Naw," Hiccup waved. "I'd give him a much cooler name like…Souleater or Stormdrinker or-"

Elsa gave him a serious look. "It's fine to name dragons that but you are not, under any circumstances, to name your children that!"

"Er…okay?" Hiccup nervously said under her glare. "Alright so, moving on! So like I said, I was the odd one in the village,"

"How so?" Elsa gave him a curious look.

"Well, my father said I had the attention span of a sparrow, that I would go looking for trolls instead of fishing-" Hiccup said and Elsa looked away for a second which was unnoticed by Hiccup. "-and I suck at being a normal Viking,"

"Of course since you were a Hiccup," Elsa smiled and Hiccup returned the gesture.

"It's true. It was hard for me to do the usual Viking stuff. I couldn't fight properly, I was-still scrawny-"

"Oh, hush! You're bigger than Tuffnut," Elsa cut in and Hiccup paused for a second before nodding in agreement.

"Well, I was back then," Hiccup continued. "Essentially, I couldn't do what a normal Viking could, no matter what or how hard I tried. I also have a different mindset. I think and perceive things differently, although I tried my best to think like the rest of the Vikings,"

"I don't think that it is your fault. Not everyone is the same. Different children requires different approach," Elsa said with a firm conviction. Hiccup smiled, it was exactly what he thought.

"That's true. But they didn't know any other way back then. My father also didn't know what to do with me and he figured out that I could be more productive by helping Gobber with blacksmith work. It turned out for the best in the end since it made me into what I am today," Hiccup gestured to himself and Toothless.

"I couldn't lift a sword back then, so I decided to make devices that would do the lifting for me. I couldn't destroy things with a sword or axe, so I decided to make things that would do the destruction instead," Hiccup continued and Elsa gave him a curious look before asking.

"But…why? I mean, you said that you tried to become like the rest of the Vikings, so I figured that you wouldn't give up on doing things like them. Why would you do it differently?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup was silent for a moment. "I've…come to terms on what I couldn't do. So I focused on what I could instead. It helped that I sort of have a one-track mind at that time. I thought that the Vikings wouldn't care how I accomplish things,"

Elsa gave him a sympathetic look. "You couldn't do things like them, so you did it your way and hope that in the end, they would accept you?"

Hiccup gave her a sad smile. "Pretty much,"

"It must be hard, to live that way. To try and be someone else that you're not, to try and fit in even when you couldn't," Elsa said.

"Didn't you try to live that way as well?" Hiccup replied and Elsa's eyes widened in surprise.

"I…I suppose," Elsa said and looked away.

Hiccup decided to continue. "Anyway, it turns out that even my way was…very hard to accept back then. My devices turned out to be way more destructive to the Vikings than the dragons! I was lucky that I'm the son of the chief. If not, I might have been banished!" Hiccup chuckled at the thought.

Elsa didn't think that it was funny. Even when Hiccup tried to be himself, it turned out to be worse than the Vikings. Just like Elsa. Even when she tried to be herself, she ended up doing more damage. Her running away from Arendelle during the Great Freeze was a testament to that.

"Why? Why would you continue doing it even though…"

"I don't know any other way," Hiccup simply said. "It's either to be myself or a Viking. I don't know what else I could be,"

Elsa stared at Hiccup's eyes sadly. It was such a sad predicament. Elsa knew that Hiccup couldn't be a normal Viking, yet at the same time, his own self wasn't accepted by them back then. It was just like her own situation. She could never be a normal person just by birth alone and it was hard for her to truly be The Snow Queen if she wants the world to accept her.

"It was funny really. I wanted to fit in by trying to proof that I could kill a dragon. I jumped at the chance to kill one," Hiccup said and Toothless gave him a sad look. Hiccup chuckled. "That was back then, buddy," Hiccup scratched the top of his head and Toothless purred.

"It was that drive that made me shoot down Toothless," Hiccup continued. "Of course, it was nighttime then and Toothless was almost invisible during dark, so no one believed me. It didn't helped that I destroyed most of the village, as usual,"

"So I immediately went searching for him as soon as I got the chance. It took a while but I found him in the end," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded. She know this part from the book. However, the book told that Hiccup chose to release it with the intention of training it. From what Elsa have heard from Hiccup, it doesn't seem that way.

"I found him and I was excited at first. I mean can you imagine it? I've failed and ridiculed so many times and no one believed what I could do. Now, after all that, I've done it! I've succeeded!" Hiccup said in a rather excited tone. "I could finally prove my worth! I could prove them that I wasn't Hiccup the Useless!"

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't expect this reaction from Hiccup. Of course, she could relate. After having all those crushing defeat and to finally experience your first victory…the feeling could be overwhelming. She would know. After all, she sang on top of a mountain while creating an ice castle. She did not expect the nickname, however.

"So…what did you do?" Elsa asked. She already knew the answer since Toothless was still alive but she needed to know personally from him.

"Well, I approached him and I was about to kill him with the puny knife I had with me. But then Toothless opened his eyes and looked at me. That was the turning point," Hiccup continued. "Have you seen this guy's eyes?"

Hiccup gestured to Toothless large eyes and Elsa nodded. "They're rather large, aren't they? Like a mirror,"

Elsa then understood what Hiccup meant.

"You saw yourself when you look at him," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"I saw a lot of things. I saw a dragon that was just as scared as I am. I saw myself holding the knife, ready for the kill. Seeing that reflection of myself was…it's like…trying to commit suicide by stabbing yourself with a knife in front of a mirror," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a weird look.

"That's…unsettling,"

Hiccup nodded. "But it's true. I know it's strange, watching you try to kill yourself but that was how I felt and saw myself at the time. I was watching myself holding the knife and at that time I understood what would happen. If I kill Toothless, I wouldn't have just killed a dragon, but myself. I would cease becoming Hiccup The Useless…I would finally be Hiccup The Viking…"

"But you didn't," Elsa said.

"I couldn't because of fear at that time. Turned out fear has its uses, eh?" Hiccup said with a grin and Elsa returned a weak smile. "So I released him,"

Hiccup smiled fondly at Toothless, who smiled in return. "He tried to fly away at that time but couldn't because his tail fin was clipped when I shot him down," Hiccup gestured at the prosthetic tailfin.

Elsa nodded, finally knowing why Toothless was in such a condition. "He was stuck in a cove and it became sort of his cage for a while. I returned, because of my curiosity to study him. After all, there wasn't any records of a Night Fury before,"

"It was during that time that I learned a lot about the dragons. I then decided to help restore his flight capability again seeing that it was my fault and he looked really glum at that time," Hiccup said and Toothless snorted and smacked him lightly on the head.

"It's true! You looked so sad back then! You were even jealous of a small bird!" Hiccup chuckled and Toothless growled again.

"Whatever you say, bud," Hiccup replied and Elsa could only guess at the conversation between the two. "Anyway, my dad had me enrolled in the dragon training program at the same time. Well, it was a different dragon training back then. We learned to kill, not to ride them,"

Elsa nodded. "You should see me back then. Before I met with Toothless, I was barely able to fight against a dragon! Then I applied what I learned and managed to subdue them almost effortlessly," Hiccup said and Elsa tilted her head.

"How?" Elsa asked.

"Well, most dragons are afraid of eels and they really like a certain type of grass. It's like catnip to them. Scratch them at just the right spot and they'll fell asleep," Hiccup explained and Elsa nodded.

"I see. I find it strange for such powerful creatures to have such…peculiar attributes" Elsa said and Hiccup shrugged.

"That's their charm," Hiccup replied. "Anyway, back to my story, my popularity skyrocketed and I became the talk of the town, much to her chagrin,"

Elsa's eyes widened and Hiccup nodded.

"Astrid. She was super competitive. Top of the class, the only one that's serious and competent enough about dragon killing. Can you imagine being in her shoes? I used to be at the bottom of the class and ended up being in her way most of the time. Then suddenly, the position changed! I could take down dragons without using weapons at all. Although I would say that my smarts is my weapon,"

Hiccup smirked and Elsa shook her head with a smile.

"Anyway, I felt weird back then because it was what I always wanted. What I thought I wanted. I wanted to fit in, to be accepted by the Vikings and they almost did too," Hiccup continued. "It was then I realized something. Remember when I said that I hoped that I could become like them using my own way?" Elsa nodded. "Well, that was the case. I couldn't take down dragons using the conventional method but I could using my own way,"

"But to truly become like them…all I had to do…was to kill a dragon. And at that point, it was easy for me to kill a dragon. I could kill a dragon," Hiccup said sadly.

"But you wouldn't," Elsa said.

Hiccup smiled weakly. "At that time I wouldn't,"

'At that time?' Elsa thought. She then remembered what the twins had told her and she understood.

"_Vikings on dragons versus the other Vikings on dragons,"_

"I learned a lot about them. I learned that they weren't the vicious, blood thirsty creatures we always thought them to be. I learned that we can coexist with them just fine," Hiccup continued. "Unfortunately, I wasn't able to communicate properly with my dad and…we have stubbornness issues,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow and Hiccup avoided her eyes and looked sheepish. "I wasn't very good at communicating back then, okay?"

Elsa nodded. "So I decided that it was easier for me to just run away with Toothless and leave forever. I finally decided that I want to just be myself," Hiccup said and Elsa looked surprised at this. She didn't know about this.

"Well, can you blame me? Dragons are much easier to deal with than people," Hiccup reasoned and Elsa could agree on that. After all, she too ran away from others during the Great Freeze.

"I guess that's why my mother preferred the company of dragons than humans," Hiccup said. Elsa raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any further because she didn't want to interrupt the story. "I almost made it too, if it weren't for Astrid,"

Hiccup chuckled at the memory. "She was the _only _Viking that was suspicious of my rise to fame. So she decided to follow me to learn my secret. She failed a few times but on the day that I want to leave, she found the cove where Toothless was,"

Elsa could only imagine how it went. "It went just as you expected. The Viking girl that was hell bent on killing dragons met with one of the most dangerous dragons in history. Luckily no one was hurt. We managed to disarm her and she ran away to tell the others,"

"I was sure that there was no hope anymore for me in the village. What would happen if the Vikings were to know that I've been lying to them? They were expecting me to kill dragons but instead, I'm siding with them," Hiccup continued. "Fortunately, Toothless here had a different idea. I don't know why he decided to go after Astrid but I'm glad he did,"

"I think he just wants to "remove the threat"," Hiccup said and Toothless shrugged.

"Anyway, we flew after her, pick her up and put her on top of a tree. I wanted to explain but she didn't want to listen, so I said that I'll show her instead," Hiccup said with a smile as he remembered the fond memory. "She was reluctant of course, but she didn't have much choice, so she accepted,"

"Toothless of course, decided to be difficult. He flew around like a deranged dragon," Hiccup said and Toothless growled in reply.

"I know it worked but that's one heck of a first impression!" Hiccup replied and Toothless growled again.

"Figures," Hiccup said and Elsa wondered what the conversation was. "Anyway, Toothless scared her and she apologized. Only then Toothless decided to play nice. We gave her a…I guess, a flight to remember,"

'Just like mine?' Elsa wondered and felt a flash of pain in her heart. Could it be that she was retracing the steps of Astrid?

"She changed her mind about dragons after that. Of course, things got complicated when Toothless brought us to the dragon queen's lair," Hiccup continued.

"The Red Death," Elsa said the name with a whisper and Hiccup nodded.

"It turns out the dragons has been stealing our food to feed her since she was too lazy to do it herself, which was a good thing actually. If they didn't do it, then the Queen would come out from the nest and raze whole islands. Heck, if she were to come out any earlier, there wouldn't be any Berk and who knows where she would go from there," Hiccup explained and Elsa involuntarily gulped.

She could only imagine the sight of a flying mountain capable of releasing a torrent of flame closing in on Arendelle…

"The queen noticed us and we barely escape with our lives. We returned and Astrid decided to tell the village about it. I disagree since that means the Viking would want to go after the nest which would require Toothless. I know what would happen," Hiccup said and Elsa have a surprised look on her face.

"So did you ran away then?" she asked and Hiccup chuckled.

"No. Running away wasn't in my mind anymore after that. I just told her I'd think of something, that I'll tell my dad differently. I want to show them that dragons aren't what we thought about them and we can live with them. After all, if I can convince Astrid, surely others would be easy, right?" Hiccup explained.

"Of course, I was wrong. The next day was my final test to see if I can truly be a dragon slayer. My father who was away searching for the nest during my rise to fame, didn't know of my methods. He panicked when he saw that I discarded all weapons and armor and approached a Monstrous Nightmare, one of the most dangerous dragon known. He thought that I was being suicidal, so he interrupted the test," Hiccup continued.

"Of course, it all went downhill from there. The Monstrous Nightmare panicked and becomes too aggressive to calm down. Toothless heard the commotion from far and came to save me from the dragon. In doing that, he was captured by the Vikings. My father learned of the truth. To say he was disappointed was an understatement because he disowned me," Hiccup said without a hint of sadness in his voice.

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise. "That's…that's a horrible thing to do!"

Hiccup shrugged. "People tend to make bad choices when they're mad, scared or stressed. I know I've done it before,"

Elsa was silent for a moment. She wasn't truly innocent in that part as well, but still to that extend! "But…that's too far!"

"Perhaps, but I can understand his position. Those that lead has to make tough choices. He has to choose between his people or family," Hiccup said.

"But, if he listened to you it would benefit everyone!" Elsa argued.

"He didn't know that for sure. It wasn't a guaranteed success so he had to choose between what he felt was best at the time. Besides, he-no, the Vikings has been fighting the dragons for most of their life. Dragons were the problem. Then suddenly, somebody said that they could be the solution instead? If someone said that one of the solution to your problem is something that you would never do, would you do it?" Hiccup explained.

Elsa tried to speak but closed her mouth again before she found the word. "It was...it seemed like the most logical choice at the time,"

Hiccup nodded and Elsa sighed. She wondered, what would her father do if her powers truly went out of control? In fact, she has experienced one of the measures to stop her, the shackles that were used to imprison her during the Great Freeze.

And what was worse…she later found out that that wasn't the worse-case-scenario solution they had prepared.

"Anyway," Hiccup decided to continue instead of suffering the silence. "Toothless got caught and was used as a way finder for the nest. I was banished and had to stay on the island with the rest of the children. I didn't know what to do at that time. I could only watch the ships sail away, knowing that they won't return. My father, my friend, my people…"

"Then Astrid managed to knock some sense and crazy in me. I got to my feet again and the rest is just like in the book. I helped my friends bond with their dragons, we flew to the dragon's nest, saved Toothless, my father realized his mistake, we made up, Toothless and I fought the Queen and we saved the day," Hiccup finished. He was lazy to go into detail about the fight with the Red Death because there wasn't much to it that the book didn't cover.

"So let me get this straight...you chose to be yourself, to hold on to your values and do what you think was right," Elsa asked and Hiccup nodded. "In the end, you are the one that changed the Vikings, not the other way around,"

"Yeah, pretty much," Hiccup shrugged.

"That's inspiring," Elsa said with a smile and Hiccup returned it. "Anyway, about the presentation of your story...it had a good start, but there's hardly any climax at all! For someone who had been through a lot of exciting adventures, I expected at least some action sequences! And the ending, urgh! It was rushed!" Elsa said in a playful mocking tone.

"Well excuuuuse me Princess-"

"Queen," Elsa corrected with a smile and Hiccup eye rolled in response.

"Well excuuuuse me again, My Queen. I'm a man of action, not words," Hiccup replied.

"Well, unless if you want to reenact your past, then you'll have to do better with your words," Elsa countered.

"Says the one who hasn't tell her story yet," Hiccup pointed out. Elsa smiled before she answered.

"All in due time. Besides, you haven't finished yet. I believe that you still have more stories to tell. After all, isn't that just the first part of the tale of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock The Third?" Elsa countered again.

Hearing this, Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't mind telling Elsa his story since she seemed to like it very much. "It's going to be a long night then,"

"Well…we could have some hot coffee. I heard it's good at keeping people awake and alert," Elsa offered.

"Sure, why not," Hiccup shrugged.

Elsa smiled as she started to work on the coffee while Hiccup washed the dishes. Hiccup has a very interesting life, perhaps more so than others she had met so far, including herself. And because of that, he has a lot of interesting stories to tell.

Elsa loved stories since she has read a lot of them during her isolation years. It was her way of escaping into worlds and adventures far beyond the walls of her room. Furthermore, hearing it being told was much more interactive, fun and interesting than reading it. Secretly, the passive Elsa, now having tasted a slice of adventure in her life, found herself wanting for more.

Still, as she thought about it, that was all she had been doing, reading and listening to the stories of others. After all, they were more interesting than her own. How could the story of her _adventure _during the Great Freeze could ever compare?

Elsa thought about it sadly. That adventure and the one she had with Hiccup would probably be the only adventure she would ever had in her life.

Little did she know, the story of The Snow Queen would be just as adventurous and perilous as the Viking King's in the future. After all, her adventure would decide the course of the world.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Did you guys see what I did with the lemons and hot coffee? Ehehehe.

So! Explanation! The thing is, I know what kind of lemons you guys meant. The lemon question I asked in the previous chapter was actually, a prank/social experiment. What do I mean by this? Well…

It was a prank because it's a play at the meaning of the "lemons". Yes, I know what kind of lemons you guys were thinking and I was counting on that to make it work. You see, when I finished the previous chapter, I had no idea what to write on the end author's note when suddenly the cooking part clicked to me to use the lemons.

It was a social experiment because I want to know your thoughts on the subject of "lemons". It was "testing the waters," kind-of-moment, so to speak. The polls I've set up shows that a lot of voters want lemons. Most of the reviewers also want lemons BUT you want it to be done _tactfully _in sense of proper timing and…how much lemons I'm going to use. Which I agree, if I ever decide to use lemons.

You see, I've already decided long before that there will be implied sexual content in the future of the story. However, on the subject of whether said sexual content should be thoroughly described…well, so far I'm still on the fence. But don't worry, said sexual content will be very far in the future. You guys will be informed when it starts to get a little...lemony.

**Read and Review!**


	17. Chapter 16: His Story Part 2

**Author's Note: **Hello readers! I'm back! Sorry for the long wait. Truth to be told, I wanted to wait until I've seen HTTYD2 before moving on with the story so as to match with the canon plot as possible. But, alas, because I'm in my final weeks, I couldn't watch it until a while later and even then, I have assignments, exams and…Steam Summer Sale...

Anyhow! Watched the movie and I'm glad it turned out to be good! Still, there's just one thing that made me wanna kick myself on the head! Of course Stoick has to die for Hiccup to be chief! Why didn't I thought of that? ARRRGH! Now I have to edit the parts that have Stoick in it. I could let him live but then the impact of Hiccup's decisions (which would be explored later on) would not be as great then.

Anyhow number 2! Because of the long hiatus, there's a lot of things that had happened! Thus, the Author's Note is going to be a bit long.

Edge of Tomorrow! Fantastic movie! Go and watch it even if you have something against Tom Cruise. Heck, if you hate him, you can at least watch him die and die again. Then go and read the original material it is based on, the novel All You Need Is Kill. That story is golden and the main character's POV is damn funny. Now I have inspiration to do a HTTYD X Edge of Tomorrow fic. Heck, the setting is dead on! Astrid as the Full Metal Bitch and Hiccup as the new guy…

This story has breached the 600 reviews mark and it's all thanks to you guys! You guys are awesome! Now, I've had some people said that they sort of want me to make a HTTYD X Skyrim crossover? I've checked the crossover section for both of them and was surprised to found very little of them. I don't think I have the time to write a new one though but I am inspired by you readers to put in just a teeny weeny bit of Skyrim element into this story.

Anyway, let's move on to the story! Eh, wait, one more thing.

**sierra . steinbrecher**: Hot coffee is a reference to two things; the GTA: San Andreas mod of the same name and when a woman offers a man to have a coffee in her home which is an euphemism for sex.

Alright, let's go!

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><p><strong>Chapter 16 – His Story Part 2<strong>

"You know, coffee with milk isn't that bad," Hiccup said as he took another sip of his coffee.

Elsa nodded. "I agree, although it still can't beat a cup of hot chocolate,"

Hiccup chuckled and turned his head on the starry night sky. They were both at the ice palace's observatory tower after Elsa suggested a change of scenery to keep things lively. When they arrived, the observatory tower was just like any other tower, until Elsa magically removed the ceiling which gave them full view of the sky. They were also sitting on the floor per Hiccup's suggestion while Toothless was curled up like a cat in a corner, watching the stars quietly.

"So! Before we start, any questions?" Hiccup smiled at Elsa.

"Well…what happened to your foot?" Elsa asked and gestured to his prosthetic foot.

Hiccup looked at his prosthetic foot and cross it on his other leg. "Oh, this? After we defeated the Queen, we were knocked by its tail. I was falling first and Toothless couldn't grab me. So he reached for the closest limb he could get with his mouth. He forgot what his name is at that time," Hiccup glanced at the obsidian dragon. Toothless, who had heard about the conversation, rolled his eyes in return.

Elsa nodded. Toothless didn't retract his teeth when he bit Hiccup's leg. "I was afraid that he would like the taste of Hiccup meat after that," Hiccup said. Elsa blushed after hearing the innuendo? Thankfully, Hiccup didn't notice as Toothless sneak on him and bit his real leg, earning a startled scream from the Viking. Toothless then released his bite and made a disgusted gesture before he growled.

"Cheeky dragon," Hiccup said and nursed his leg.

"What did he say?" Elsa asked. She had to know what they talking about this time.

"He said that I'm a talking fishbone. There's hardly any meat on me," Hiccup said and Elsa giggled before her face turned sad.

"Still, I'm sorry for your loss," Elsa said and Hiccup waved her away.

"Nah, it wasn't a big deal. If anything, you could say that it was penance for what I did to Toothless," Hiccup said and gestured at the dragon. Toothless then brought his tail to Hiccup's prosthetic, showing the similarities. Left leg for the left tailfin. "A small price to pay for everything,"

"Besides! Now we match!"

Elsa giggled. "I say the similarities is too uncanny,"

Hiccup grinned at this and he leaned closer. "They say that Toothless is my soul twin,"

"I'm inclined to believe that as well," Elsa smiled. The Viking King and The Night Fury was indeed too similar. The both of them had green eyes, their bodies were more suitable for speed than strength, they were of a different and rare breed among their kinds and the both of them were very intelligent as well.

It became silent for a moment before Elsa gathered her courage to ask another question.

"Is it…hard? Living like that?" Elsa asked and hoped that she didn't touched a sensitive topic.

Hiccup shrugged. "It was at first and the phantom limb didn't help,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow and Hiccup noticed this. "It's when you've had a limb removed from your body but you feel as if it was still attached to you, except that you feel it was distorted and in pain most of the time,"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Elsa said sympathetically and Hiccup his hand at her.

"Eh, I was lucky mine was short. Others could have it for a long time before it went away. But aside from the pain and getting used to it, it wasn't so bad when you can literally customize your leg," Hiccup grinned and leaned towards Elsa.

"I've had half a mind to integrate a crossbow with it,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at the statement. "How did that work out?"

"It's a work in progress. It's a hassle to remove my peg leg to use it but in emergencies it can be useful, sort of like this," Hiccup said pointed his left leg at an imaginary foe in the distance. It didn't help that he brought his knee close to his face as if he was aiming down his leg.

Elsa giggled. "Even your leg have its own story!"

Hiccup smiled. "Eh, that's my life." Hiccup asked.

"But I doubt that is all to your life. I believe that the story you've told me before was just the first part?" Elsa said with a sly smile and Hiccup scratched the back of his neck.

"Well…yeah but…are you sure you want to listen to all of them? I mean it's going to take a while," Hiccup asked and Elsa smiled.

"I do, but let's save them for some other time. I want to hear your next life-changing adventure," Elsa answered and Hiccup turned his eye towards the sky again.

Toothless yawned and Hiccup rubbed his snout. "Go and sleep bud, you deserved it," Hiccup said and the dragon nodded before going back to his previous spot to rest. Hiccup then turned back his attention to her.

"Well…to me almost every adventure is that! But…" Hiccup's tone suddenly became somber. "The most life changing after the first…there's two of them," Hiccup said, looking uncomfortable. Elsa realized this and was about to say something when Hiccup spoke again.

"It's funny when I think about it now. The first story is about me being accepted by the Vikings as their own. The second and third story which I'm going to tell you, is about how I become their Chief and then King," Hiccup turned to look at her with a sad smile.

"You don't have to tell me if it pains you. I don't mind," Elsa said and Hiccup shook his head.

"No, I want to do this," Hiccup smiled a happier smile than before. "Actually, I never told my life to anyone, since you know, most of them knew it firsthand and I guess that telling this to you and hearing your thoughts about it is…good?"

Elsa smiled and placed her hand on his arm. "If there is one thing I've learned from my adventure is that, it is not healthy to keep it bottled,"

Hiccup chuckled. "Alright, let's start with my journey to become the Chief,"

"Life was awesome at that time. We have dragon racing, food stations, customized stables and among other things. While the villagers was content with dragon racing and staying at Berk, I was busy exploring the Viking Archipelago," Hiccup started.

Elsa nodded as she listened intently. "Let me tell you, the Viking Archipelago is quite big! We may not have large landmasses like other kingdoms, but we have lots of diverse islands! What's more, even though the Viking Archipelago is located up north, not all the islands are all covered in snow,"

Elsa raised a skeptical eyebrow. "It's true! You should come and see it!" Hiccup said and Elsa smiled.

"One day I will," Elsa answered and Hiccup was surprised. He was expecting a 'perhaps' or no as answer and not a 'yes'. Hiccup smiled but Elsa urged him to continue.

"Anyway, my dad wanted to me to start chieftain training seriously but if I did, it means that I have to be…'grounded' most of the time," Hiccup continued.

"But you didn't want to," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"Part of the reason was because I want to explore and see the world. Another part was because of my dad,"

Elsa gave him a questioning look but didn't press for answer.

"My dad is a…to me, he's the epitome of what a Viking should be. Tough, brave, fair, selfless, knows what to do in all situations even though he might be wrong," Hiccup chuckled at that. "Yet at the same time, he could be soft and caring with the people that he loves,"

"I always want to be like him when I was small. Then when the opportunity comes, I didn't think I could be like him. I'm…the opposite of him!" Hiccup said.

Elsa frowned at this. Despite what Hiccup has achieved, why does he still seem to have self-esteem issues? "But Hiccup, why would you want to be like him? You've already accomplished amazing achievements of your own! Compared to your dad…"

Hiccup shook his head. "It's not about achievements. Sure, I've done some pretty awesome stuff but when it comes to leadership, it doesn't matter much. You know before I became King, the other Chieftains thought highly of me at first for what I've accomplished. But when I told them my plan to unite them, they thought that I'm just a kid with an inflated ego because of my what I did,"

Elsa's eyes widened as she realized that Hiccup was right. Having outstanding accomplishments doesn't necessarily mean that you were fit to become a leader of many. A legendary soldier was invaluable at times of war but when it comes to politics and changing the lives of many through other methods, the same soldier might not be the right person at all.

"What I did with the dragons. Anyone can do it if they were willing to have an open mind. My mom and Drago could do it, even if his method is unsavory," Hiccup said. "I didn't think I could do a good job as my dad,"

Elsa turned her gaze at the floor. She could relate with Hiccup in that matter. She gained her throne and recognition by birthright, not through war or hard work. If the situation was different, if she wasn't born of royal blood, what would people think if she were to claim Arendelle's throne on the basis that she was…special?

One thing for sure, they weren't going to just hand her the throne. In fact, that was why the whole world feared her. It was the possibility that she would suddenly lay a claim to the world and she, in their eyes, would be unstoppable.

"Anyway, as you can expect, we both handle the "me-becoming-Chief" issue our own way. My dad kept thinking that I would relent eventually and tend to ignore my thoughts about it and I tend to fly away," Hiccup continued and smiled as he remembered the memory he had with Astrid before meeting with Eret.

"One day, when I flew away again, Astrid and I found a fortress destroyed by ice of all things," Hiccup said and Elsa perked up at this.

"Ice?" Elsa gave him disbelieving look, part hoping that Hiccup wouldn't imply that it was her doing and part curious.

Hiccup chuckled at this. "Yep! You should see it! The fortress was blasted by ice that made it look like a mountain of…spiky ice. Although the ice was emerald color instead,"

Elsa tried to imagine the scenery. Disregarding the color of the ice, it would require something very powerful to achieve what Hiccup had said.

"I see. I take it that a dragon did that?" Elsa asked and Hiccup nodded. She's heard of fire breathing dragon, but never ice-breathing ones.

"We tried to get close to inspect the fortress in detail but then Astrid's dragon, Stormfly got caught by a dragon trapper whose name is Eret…Son of Eret," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a blank look.

"Eret...Son of Eret?" Elsa asked and Hiccup nodded slowly while studying her features. Hiccup then slowly grinned as he knew what Elsa was thinking.

"That…out of respect, I won't comment on it,"

"Aw come on! It's not like I'm going to tell anyone," Hiccup goaded and Elsa pursed her lips for a moment but she didn't give.

"Nope, nope. This isn't about Eret…who…is the Son of Eret, but of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," Elsa said and Hiccup pouted.

"Fine. Anyway, Eret was kind enough to tell us why he was trapping the dragons. Turns out he has to sell them to Drago Bludvist," Hiccup continued and Elsa nodded.

Elsa gave him a curious look. "I've heard about him. He wanted to control all the dragons, correct?" Hiccup nodded.

"So I decided to tell my dad about the guy and my 'brilliant'-" Hiccup air-quoted. "-plan to deal with Drago,"

Elsa gave him a curious look. "I take it that your plan didn't go well?"

Hiccup sighed and ran his hand over his hair. "I…the moment I tell my dad about Drago, he issued a lockdown on the island and told us to prepare for war,"

Elsa didn't looked surprised. A man that was amassing a dragon army. What else was he going to do with them?

"I didn't want a war to happen. Part of the reason was because I don't want to kill people and dragons. Another reason was because I knew I could do something. I could change Drago's mind about the dragons. I thought that he was just a man that misunderstood the dragons, just like my dad. And if I can change my dad's mind, surely Drago or the world for that matter wouldn't be a problem, right?" Hiccup asked rhetorically.

Elsa didn't respond to the question.

"My dad didn't think that Drago could be reasoned with. I didn't agree at the time. I mean, I don't like to think that people are…just that. That they're just black and white. That they couldn't change. That they couldn't be saved, but only be stopped," Hiccup sighed.

Elsa wanted to ask whether he still had that belief but Hiccup continued his story.

"So I ran away and purposely tried to get myself captured by Eret so I can meet with Drago and hopefully, change his mind," Hiccup chuckled. "What a fool I was. Luckily my dad managed to find and stop me. If not, Drago would have killed me on the spot,"

"Then my dad told me of why he thought Drago was an insane murderous man. Years ago, there was a meeting between the Chieftains to discuss about the dragon problem. Drago appeared at that meeting and offered them a proposal. He would took care of the dragon problem but only if…they were to submit to him," Hiccup said and grinned in a malicious way at Elsa.

It spooked Elsa to see that grin. "Sounds familiar?" Hiccup asked and Elsa cleared her mind to think of what Hiccup meant.

"You did the same thing," Elsa answered and Hiccup smiled and looked away.

"Well, not exactly the same. Drago issued his proposal to handle the dragon problem while at the same time, becoming their ruler. I issued my proposal to better their lives while at the same time, becoming their ruler. Both of our proposal got rejected and laughed at. Drago used his dragons to burn the Chieftains, which my dad was the only survivor by the way. While I…I unknowingly had my best friend kill the opposing leaders for me," Hiccup stated with a far away look while Elsa was shocked at the last statement.

"I-I, Hiccup? What do you mean by that?" Elsa asked.

Hiccup sadly smiled at her again. "That's the next story. For now, let's finish this one first,"

Elsa stared at Hiccup again, unsure of what to think but she nodded, knowing that the answer will come in time.

"Anyway, even after hearing that, I still don't believe that a total war was inevitable. So I flew away again and I decided I want to be alone up in the clouds for a while. It was then that my mom found me,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Your mom?"

"Yeah, she was riding a dragon and really knew how to make an entrance!" Hiccup laughed.

Hiccup had told her that he got her mom back, but he wasn't specific about it.

Seeing that Elsa was a bit confused, he continued. "It turns out, her dragon, Cloud Jumper didn't abduct her because he want to hurt her but rather he thought that she belonged with the dragons,"

"Seriously?" Elsa asked.

"Yep, I guess Cloud Jumper saw the dragon in her. That or it was a case of Beauty and the Beast that is hopefully, only from the dragon," Hiccup answered.

"That…is interesting," Elsa voiced her opinion and Hiccup chuckled.

"My mom spend 20 years living with them and learning their ways. She was befriending dragons ever since I was a baby!" Hiccup said proudly with a smile. Elsa however, didn't smile.

"True, but it was at your expense…" Elsa said and to her surprise, Hiccup only shrugged like it was nothing. "You're not angry?"

"A little bit at first but it was overshadowed by a lot of other factors," Hiccup said.

"Such as?" Elsa asked curiously. She wondered what could have made Hiccup so easily forgive her mom that had abandoned him for two decades.

"Well, I've lost two decades of time without her, I don't want to spoil more of it by being negative," Hiccup answered and Elsa couldn't help but to think of Anna. "And she also thought that she would bring harm to me, which is kind of ridiculous actually,"

Elsa gave Hiccup a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she didn't think dragons were as dangerous as people thought they were be. Even when the village was attacked, she was trying to stop people from harming the dragons. Then one day, her soon-to-be dragon managed to enter the house and found me," Hiccup explained. "At that time, she had a choice to make, to either kill the dragon or spare it and risk my safety,"

"And she hesitated. Even though Cloud Jumper didn't want to harm me, it still made her think of the "what-if-she-was-wrong" scenario and that haunted her," Hiccup finished.

"I see…" was what Elsa could only say.

"So you know, I don't want to increase her guilt or anything,"

Elsa smiled and was proud of Hiccup's ability to put others above his pain.

"It also helps that we share the same passion and I took after her, a lot. I guess my dad didn't contribute much, huh?"

Elsa giggled.

"There's also another reason that kept her away from us and it was Drago. He started capturing and taming them by force a few years after my mom was kidnapped. She noticed this and began a one man-I mean woman campaign against him. She couldn't stop him alone however since he has quite an army. So she did what she could, rescuing the dragons that were trapped and captured. She was quite good at it too since by the time I met her, she had freed more than a thousand,"

Elsa's mouth opened in shock. "She's a vigilante?"

Hiccup chuckled. "I know right? It's not every day you find out that your mom is some kind of crazy, feral, vigilante dragon lady. And do you know what her response to that?"

Elsa shook her head.

"Well at least I'm not boring," Hiccup imitated his mother's voice.

Elsa couldn't help but to giggle after hearing that. After all those years, she was afraid that her son might find her boring. "But why she didn't ask for your dad's help earlier?"

"For a lot reasons. Berk still hated dragons at that time, her trust in people was quite low and she didn't want to attract Drago to Berk, which was fortunate for us," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, you said that Drago became active a few years after your mom was kidnapped. So how could he not noticed Berk even after you've stopped the dragon-Viking war on Berk?" Elsa asked and Hiccup smiled.

"Drago viewed my mom as his nemesis so he was preoccupied with her. That and remember what I said about the Viking Archipelago being huge?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded. "Well, when I met Drago, he has enough army to start his invasion plan starting with Arendelle and your neighboring kingdoms…without dragons. Yet, there are still Vikings clans in the Archipelago that didn't even know about Drago,"

Elsa's mouth gaped as she processed the information. Arendelle was a small nation, that was true, but it still would take a considerable force to invade it. Not to mention quite a large force to invade her surrounding neighbors as well. That means Drago must have quite a large army comparable to medium nation. Furthermore, most of the soldiers must be local and yet, there are still areas of the Archipelago that didn't know of Drago's army?

"But still how could the others not know about Drago? Didn't you said that he burned the Chieftains?" Elsa asked.

"Not all Chieftains went to that meeting," Hiccup simply said and Elsa nodded.

"I see," Elsa answered and she began to ponder about other information, such as the fact that Hiccup's mom alone managed to slow Drago's progress. In a sense, they were balanced by each other as Drago couldn't take Valka down and vice versa. That was, until Hiccup was added into the equation.

"If anything, Drago was smart to gather his strength until he can be truly sure he could conquer the Viking Archipelago," Hiccup continued and Elsa gave him a curious look. "The thing is, we have a lot of different Viking tribes living in the Viking Archipelago. Some of those tribes are like Berk where the people are kind and have an open mind to things. Some are…"

Hiccup hesitated to answer. "Some are the worst people you will ever meet. I'm talking about a tribe full of killers, rapists and all the worst kind of people you could think of. If I was from that tribe, they wouldn't be living with dragons peacefully but instead would use them like how Drago would. And you think we have a dragon problem back then? They didn't because they were so good at killing them. If you ever have a dragon infestation problem, they're the dragon slayers that you'd want,"

Elsa didn't say anything.

Hiccup chuckled. "Even Drago didn't want to take them on until he has ALL the dragons on his side. Even then, he knew he would be losing a lot of them before he could defeat them. So yeah, I guess even if there weren't my mom or my tribe to stop him, other Vikings would step in to at least hold him for a while,"

"But you managed to succeed where Drago failed," Elsa said softly and Hiccup looked at his hands sadly.

"Yeah, but not in the way that I liked. Anyway," Hiccup perked up again before Elsa could question him further. "Turns out, my mom brought me to the Dragon Sanctuary where all the dragons that she had rescued were hiding. Oh and the ice-breathing dragon was also living there and he was the King, or Alpha of the dragons,"

"Oh? The ice-breathing dragon was the King of the dragons?" Elsa asked with a sly smile, liking the fact that said dragon was the leader, much like her. Hiccup noticed this and gave her a grin. But then Elsa remembered something.

"You said was?"

Hiccup looked sad but continued with his story. "Before we get to that, the Bewilderbeast, which is the ice-breathing dragon we were talking about, was from an Alpha species of dragons. Alpha species are, as of what we know of them, were born rulers of the dragon species. They were larger and stronger and had this ability to mind control other lesser dragons through sound and eye contact,"

"I take it that the Red Death also had this ability?" Elsa asked and Hiccup nodded. "But that doesn't seem fair, to be born into leadership position like that,"

"Well, not really. Two Alphas in the same territory had to fight each other to see who the true Alpha is. Even then, other dragons that weren't Alpha species can still challenge them for the position," Hiccup explained.

Elsa gave him a disbelieving look. "Is that even possible? The Alphas have their mind-control powers so how could other dragons ever hope to even challenge them?"

"Well, it's hard, but not impossible. Any-way," Hiccup continued with the story, leaving Elsa hanging about the subject. Elsa gave him a glare but decided to let Hiccup continue with his story.

"While I was bonding with my mom, my dad managed to found me," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened.

"A family reunion," Elsa breathed and Hiccup smiled a small smile.

"Yep. You should see my parents when they found each other," Hiccup chuckled. "My mom, the one that wasn't afraid of dragons? She was afraid that my dad would blame her for everything. My dad however, just…said that she was as beautiful as ever,"

Elsa looked surprised. "He just forgive her?" Hiccup nodded with a smile. "Well, I'm glad to know that it runs in the family,"

Hiccup chuckled. "But my mom wasn't too keen on going back. She rarely had…intimate human contact for two decades. And deep down I know that she still blame herself for leaving us, especially when it turns out that Berk wasn't as stubborn as she thought they would be and that if she had tried harder…things would be very different,"

Elsa nodded in understanding. She too have had her own 'what-ifs' scenario that she regretted. 'If only her dad didn't do this, if only she realized that love is what it takes, if only…'

"And my dad could sing! Who knew!" Hiccup said with a chuckle, waking Elsa from her thoughts.

"He sung to your mom?" Elsa asked and Hiccup nodded.

"It's their love song," Hiccup shrugged slowly. "Anyway, we then decided to tackle the Drago problem together. But even my mom agreed with my dad that there was no use talking to Drago…but…I still want to try back then…"

Hiccup sighed. "It was then that Drago attacked the Dragon Sanctuary,"

Elsa's eyes widened at this. "What happen?"

"A lot. We used all the dragons in the sanctuary to fight Drago and his army. We even used the Bewilderbeast, but it turns out, Drago had his own Bewilderbeast as well. The both of them fought and Drago's Bewilderbeast won. It killed our Bewilderbeast, became the new Alpha and took control of our dragons…including Toothless," Hiccup stole a glance at Toothless, who fortunately, was still sleeping.

Elsa gasped at this. "No…"

Hiccup sighed. "I was a fool. I was on the ground at that time, to try and talk Drago out of his mad conquest, to try and get him to see reason. I thought that he misunderstood the dragons at first but…he wasn't. He lost his family and his entire left arm to a dragon attack,"

Elsa gasped again.

"At first he said that he wanted to control the dragons to make sure that it won't happen again, but then it became to getting more power and control. It was at that time that his Bewilderbeast won and he took control of Toothless…and set him to kill me,"

"What…what happen then?" Elsa dared to ask.

"Toothless fired his plasma blast and my dad took the hit for me," Hiccup said while looking at the stars. "He didn't survive,"

"Oh Hiccup, I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for your loss…" Elsa began to tear which didn't go unnoticed by Hiccup.

"Hey, hey, don't cry on me now! I'm fine, really! I've come to terms with it so I'm fine!" Hiccup said with a smile but Elsa wasn't entirely convinced. Then she remembered that Hiccup had Astrid to get him through…

Elsa then relented and nodded. "Alright, I'm alright now. It's just…it's too cruel! Your parents had just met each other and-and Toothless!"

"Ssshhh, not too loud! You'll wake him up," Hiccup gestured to the sleeping dragon and Elsa nodded before calming herself.

Hiccup sighed before running his hand over his hair. "It's true…but that's life. We don't always get what we want, the way we want it,"

They both went into a momentary silence before Elsa spoke again. "After that what happens?" Elsa felt that the story needed to move on or it will cause the both of them to linger on this sad moment.

"Well, Drago took all of our dragons and left, by riding on Toothless by the way. That jerk. We then gave my dad the Viking funeral where, you know-we put the deceased on a boat, let it sail and light it on fire with flaming arrows," Hiccup explained and Elsa nodded, showing that she understood.

"Anyway, I was on a cliff again, like what I had told you in my first story. I lost my dragon, _again_ and I did not know what to do, _again_. The only difference was that my dad would never return,"

Elsa could only offer a silent sympathy.

"Then I realized that all this time, all I've been doing was just running away from my responsibility as a Chief. I didn't even give it a shot because I thought that I could never be as good as my dad. So I decided that even if I can't be as good as him, I'll give it a try," Hiccup said and he became silent for a while.

Elsa frowned again. It seemed that Hiccup really have self-esteem issues about his leadership. She wanted to say to him that he was doing a wonderful job so far considering what he had achieved. But then those achievements were only one side of the story that she knew of. What about the rest of the story? Of the things that he had to sacrifice and do to get where he is now?

Elsa then pondered of what she would feel if she was to be in Hiccup's shoes. Back then Hiccup believed that everything can be solved peacefully without fighting. But then he learned the harsh truth in that sometimes, you just have to fight. But the cost for that lesson? His father.

Because of this, Hiccup also had his own "what-ifs". What if he had listened to his father? What if he didn't try to reason with Drago at all and just, stopped him?

Then there was the matter with how he became king. What was it that Hiccup had said before?

"_I unknowingly had my best friend kill the opposing leaders for me,"_

To Elsa, that wasn't a cause for much grief, if his best friend had killed the opposing leaders in war. She certainly have heard there was a unification war back then. Perhaps it was in a different way that he didn't like? However, because Hiccup hasn't reveal the whole story yet, she could only surmise that to Hiccup, his victories felt hollow.

It would not be surprising, considering that he lost his father, his fiancée and friend. All of it was indirectly because of him.

And so Elsa decided not to say that Hiccup had done a good job until Hiccup has finished his story, lest it would make things worse.

"So we then decided to stop Drago since he decided to destroy Berk," Hiccup finally continued his story.

Elsa perked up at this. "But how? Didn't Drago took all of the dragons?"

Hiccup smiled at her. "Well, not all of them. Only the baby dragons were left. They were immune to an Alpha's control since…you know babies," Hiccup shrugged.

Elsa smiled. "Of course,"

"Well, anyway, we rode the babies back to Berk, and found that Drago was already there, wreaking havoc and stuff," Hiccup continued. "I had my friends distract Drago's Bewilderbeast while I would try and take back Toothless from Drago,"

"Was it hard to accomplish that?" Elsa asked and Hiccup shook his head.

"Eh, Drago was so assured of his control of the dragons that he didn't think I could succeed in freeing Toothless from an Alpha's control. So he just let me try," Hiccup answered and Elsa was surprised at this.

"He just…let you try? He didn't try to stop you?"

Hiccup nodded. "Yep. In his own words, 'but please, oh great Dragon Master, try to take him'," Hiccup mimicked Drago's voice.

Elsa smirked at that. "Well, that was egoistic and idiotic of him. How did it went?"

Hiccup grinned. "I proved to him that I am the true Dragon Master after all and freed Toothless. The look on his face was priceless, especially when Toothless dropped him,"

"Good, he got that coming,"

Hiccup nodded. "True. But Drago was lucky as he fell on the Bewilderbeast's tusks. Have I told you that the Bewilderbeast have two large tusks like an elephant's?" Hiccup asked and Elsa shook her head. "Ah sorry, well you know now, heh,"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and Elsa smiled.

"Anyway, so he managed to get on his Bewilderbeast's head so it wasn't over yet. I figured at that time to win the war, I had to separate Drago from his dragon," at this Hiccup sighed. "I could have just use Toothless to shoot him down but…I guess I didn't want to add anymore human to his kill count at the time,"

Elsa turned to Toothless and gave him a sad look. She noticed how Hiccup mentioned 'at the time,' which meant that Toothless has indeed killed more people.

"So I used a distraction tactic and managed to get him off the Bewilderbeast. Once on the ground, I managed to disarm him, so I thought that it was over," Hiccup said and shook his head. "Even after what happened, I still didn't learn anything at that time,"

Elsa understood what Hiccup had meant and it saddened her. The Hiccup that was in front of her had accepted that to keep the peace, violence and death was necessary sometimes. And despite his reservations about it, he was willing to resort to it if necessary.

"Of course, it wasn't over yet. His dragon was strangely loyal to him, even though I could tell that Drago was abusive to him. And so his Bewilderbeast shot an ice-blast at me," Hiccup continued and Elsa gasped.

"I should be dead if it weren't for Toothless. He jumped in front of me but the both of us were still encased in ice. Actually, we both should have been dead if not for Toothless's…secret skill," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a curious look.

"Turns out Night Furies can enter sort of a…super mode, I guess?" Hiccup tried to explain. "The scales on his spine glowed blue and he gain increased firepower. It's his species' final trump card in a life and death situation,"

"I see," Elsa said and glanced at Toothless, trying to imagine a Toothless that was glowing blue.

"Anyway, with his new found ability, he managed to free the both of us from the ice and challenged the Bewilderbeast for the Alpha status," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a surprised look.

"He did?"

Hiccup chucked. "He did. He has always been a rebel,"

"So what happens then?" Elsa asked, getting more excited about the prospect of a 'David versus Goliath' moment. Hiccup noticed this and smirked.

"Toothless lost, so we have to retreat for round three with Drago,"

"What?" Elsa deflated. "But-but,"

At this Hiccup, laughed a litte and Elsa, realizing that she had been tricked, pouted. "That is so mean of you!"

"Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist," Hiccup said and Elsa glared at him.

"On with the story. Now. And the truth this time,"

"Alright, alright," Hiccup raised his hands in defense. "Okay so, Toothless challenged the Alpha and shot his plasma blasts at him. It was quite the sight as the Bewilderbeast was reeling from the attack and it was enough to weaken his control over the other dragons. Toothless realized this and commanded the rest of the dragons to come to his side and they did, even though the fight wasn't over yet,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this and Hiccup noticed it. "It's weird right? Usually in the animal kingdom, an animal in a group would side with the Alpha that was victorious after the fight was over and not before, and certainly not to a dragon that wasn't born as Alpha,"

Elsa nodded. It certainly was strange. Perhaps it shows that with kindness, even dragons can go against their natural programming.

"Anyway, Drago certainly wasn't happy with the way things were going. So he climbed his dragon while shouting at him to keep fighting back," Hiccup continued. "Even then, it didn't stop him from losing control of the other dragons. At that point, I rode on Toothless and offered him the chance to surrender. And he refused,"

Hiccup looked…relieved at this and Elsa frowned a little. She didn't like for Hiccup to be glad to be rid of someone but then, she could say the same for herself about a certain Prince.

"Toothless then decided to shows his…'Alpha' status by commanding the other dragons to attack Drago's Bewilderbeast. They all attacked him in unison but the Bewilderbeast was known to have the strongest armor of all dragons and it shows. He still didn't go down and decided to finish the fight once and for all,"

Hiccup was silent for a moment as he saw Elsa becoming excited again for a moment before she realized what was happening. Suddenly, he felt cold creeping down his spine as Elsa glared at him again.

Hiccup didn't give in though. "Maybe we should save this for another night?" Hiccup said.

"What? Why? The story is almost finished!" Elsa asked.

"So that I can spend a thousand and one nights with you?" Hiccup answered and Elsa looked confused until it came to her.

"What are you-oh…that…you know of that story?" Elsa asked again, referring to the One Thousand and One Nights story compilation.

"Trader Johann, remember?" Hiccup answered and Elsa gave him an 'oh'.

Elsa blushed then at what Hiccup had implied. In the One Thousand and One Nights, the story was told by Scheherazade, a Persian Queen that had been married to the Persian King. She has to tell him stories for one thousand and one nights to prevent the King from executing her.

Which, if applied to their situation right now, the role would be reversed and well, minus the marriage and execution.

Hiccup however, was enjoying observing the distracted and blushing Elsa. It was only for a moment however as Elsa regained herself and glared at him again.

"Well, it's good that you know about it but we are talking about a different story right now. So please, no more distractions," Elsa almost commanded and Hiccup smiled again.

"Alright, alright," Hiccup continued. "So Drago's Bewilderbeast decided to attack Toothless but he was faster and shot a final blast at him. It hit his left tusk and broke it…which, now that I think about it…it sort of fits?"

Elsa gave him a half questioning look and a glare, as if warning him not to distract her again.

"No-I mean, I lost my left leg, Toothless lost his left tailfin. Drago lost his left arm, and his dragon lost his left tusk…huh," Hiccup scratched his head. "Man, what is with all the left side dismemberment?"

Elsa pondered about it as well. It was such a strange string of coincidences that it was almost unsettling. Then suddenly, it occurred to Elsa. Drago Bludvist was the opposite of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. He represented the worst that Hiccup could be.

"Eh, well, moving on," Hiccup shrugged. "So anyway, Toothless broke his left tusk and it was then that the Bewilderbeast admited defeat. He even bowed to Toothless! Although it was a bit subtle,"

Elsa looked really excited at this. "And then what happens?"

"The Bewilderbeast ran away into the ocean, with Drago still on top of him," Hiccup said and Elsa gasped.

"But-but why? And what happens to Drago?" Elsa asked.

"Drago lived,"

Elsa noticed the use of past tense.

"As for why the Bewilderbeast ran away, it's in their behavior. The loser either dies or has to leave. Well, if he didn't, he would get killed anyway. It's just like most animals, like lions for example. So he thought that maybe Toothless would kill him if he didn't leave," Hiccup explained.

"Would he though?"

"If we have to," Hiccup said in a serious tone and it unnerved Elsa a little bit. "Luckily we don't need to," Hiccup suddenly said in a cheery tone. "We found him sometime after that and he's been good,"

"Actually, it was lucky for us that things turn the way it did," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a curious look. "Thing is, Alpha dragons was evolved to be the Apex of the dragon species and their only predator is other Alphas. It is borderline cheating! I mean, we humans are the apex species on earth, even with dragons around and we can still get killed by other animals,"

"What do you mean? That it was impossible for non-Alphas to win against Alphas?" Elsa asked and Hiccup nodded.

"Almost,"

"But you killed the Red Death!" Elsa stated.

"Not in the conventional way. The Red Death can live in _lava _comfortably, mind you," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened. "It has very strong defense and offense and even if Toothless were to shoot at her non-stop, there's no guarantee that he'll win,"

"We only won because we exploited her very specific weaknesses that other dragons didn't have the knowledge or means to exploit it. Now, the Bewilderbeast, sports an even stronger defense," Hiccup continued. "I mean, sure his belly is his weak spot, but even then he could just lay on the ground to cover it or swim in the ocean, which for something of his size, is actually quite fast underwater,"

"And then you have his head. Even after receiving all the dragon attacks to his head, he was still fine and he could even survive Toothless's most powerful attack. Heck, without my influence, Toothless would have aimed it into its mouth and that could be lethal. Instead he aimed at his tusk,"

"I see. So on paper, without external help, it is impossible for non-Alphas to win against Alphas," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded. Elsa also realized that Marshmallow's victory over Toothless back then was because of the overwhelming odds on her's and Marshmallow's side. If it was a fair fight…

"We only win because Drago's Bewilderbeast has been trained to be submissive all its life and Toothless and the other dragons knew that. When you were trained to be submissive through pain and fear, when a bigger force comes along, your loyalty can change pretty quickly,"

Elsa nodded. It was why controlling with fear tend to not last. Sure it was the easiest, but when that fear dissipates or was replaced with other fear that was stronger...

"It would be a different story if we had faced against my mom's Bewilderbeast. He won't back down, that's for sure. Now that's a true Alpha. He didn't even have to use his dragon-controlling ability to rule. Heck, he even feed his subjects! Even Toothless acknowledged his leadership," Hiccup stated and Elsa looked surprised at this.

"Strange right? The complete opposite of the Red Death," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded.

"Well of course. When you use ice…" Elsa smirked and Hiccup chuckled.

"Well, we were lucky too because the other dragons were the legacy of my mom's Bewilderbeast. They had been under a good management and certainly like it better than Drago's. So they decide to side with the next best thing," Hiccup smirked.

"Well, that certainly seems like it," Elsa smiled in return. "And what happens after that?"

"Well, the other dragons recognize Toothless as the new Alpha. You know, now that I think about it, it was probably why the other dragons were more submissive when we defeated the Red Death," Hiccup scratched his chin. "They could have been following Toothless even though he himself might not know it at the time,"

Elsa sweat dropped at this. Hiccup sure has a lot of 'now that I think about it,'.

"And I was also recognized as the Chief of Berk," Hiccup said in a happy tone and Elsa smiled.

"I'm sure your father is proud of you," Elsa said and hoped that Hiccup didn't feel bad from mentioning her father.

Fortunately, Hiccup smiled. "Yeah, I know he is,"

Elsa felt relief yet at the same time, sad. Hiccup has come to terms that his father is proud of him, no matter what he did. But it doesn't mean that Hiccup felt the same about it.

"So that's it! The story of how I became the Chief of Berk," Hiccup said and Elsa clapped quietly.

"Your storytelling has improved!" Elsa stated and Hiccup scratched the back of his neck.

"Really? Because I kind of got sidetracked a lot, what with the exposition and stuff…"

"Well, to me the exposition is necessary, lest I got lost and have to bombard you with questions later," Elsa answered and Hiccup shrugged.

"If you say so,"

Elsa then took out her pocket watch to check the time. "I seems that we still have the time for your third story,"

Technically, for someone of her status, she should be back at home right now to prepare for bed and not having a one thousand and one nights session with the opposite sex that is not her husband…alone. But she couldn't care less for tonight.

"Well…" Hiccup finished his now cold coffee in one gulp. "Hey, cold milk coffee is good! We should drink it with ice next time!"

Elsa giggled and playfully slapped him on the arm. "Focus, Hiccup!"

Hiccup grinned. "Alright, alright. Now get ready,"

Hiccup took a deep breath and relaxed himself for a moment. Elsa could hardly contain herself for the next story.

"For the next story was about how I became the villain of the Viking Kingdom and caused a great war,"

Elsa's eyes widened at this. She expected the war but not Hiccup becoming the villain. "Wha-what?"

"And how my friend, Varin Hafrson, made me the hero by becoming the villain instead. How he was almost insane at the end and how he became one of the most hated and feared man in the Viking history. And I played a part in it,"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Tadaa! A cliffy! Muahaha! Alright, in all seriousness, I want to stop here to prevent overloading you guys. So yeah! Now, to other matters. The previous and this chapter was sort of a retelling of the HTTYD canon story but with in depth view of what Hiccup thought and feel of the situation. I know, you might be thinking, "but we already know about the story!". True, but I felt it was necessary to tell the story this way instead of just summarizing the story in one line like "Hiccup told Elsa his story of how he become Chief," and moved on. So yeah.

Buuut, the next chapter will be an original storyline with an OC of mine who will play a large part. It will be important because it will..._hint _of the bigger bad that is to come.

So until the next time, faithful readers! I hope you enjoy this!

**Read and Review!**


	18. Chapter 17: His Story Part 3

**Author's Note: **Argh! Dammit! I'm really sorry readers for the long hiatus. I thought that I would have lots of free time during semester break to commit to this story but…it turns out I have a life. This isn't sarcasm, or me trying to brag, mind you. I never thought that I would have so many activities with friends and family when I'm on break. For a somewhat an introvert guy, I'm quite surprised by this!

That and I'm actually more motivated to write when I have work/study to do...so yeah. Since my semester break is over...faster update I guess?

I also have quite a massive writer's block with this chapter because of my OC, Varin Hafrson. Now OCs, well, some people don't like them because they were afraid that they're going to steal the spotlight or becoming Sues and among other stuff. But they're kind of necessary because I need villains! And HTTYD (movie-verse) and Frozen is kind of lacking in them.

That and I also don't want to re-use canon villains because they're kind of cookie cutter? You know, they're like, "I'm the Villain because I'm EVIL in one-dimension!" That's kinda boring. I want villains that make heroes question their motivations! So, yeah.

Anyway, I also have some other fanfic stories going on and one of them is another HiccElsa story! It is a completely new thing for me though because it is set in modern world, have no fantasy/sci-fi elements, only romance and drama. Whaaaat? Yeah. So if that's your kind of thing, go check An Unlikely Fairy Tale.

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><p><strong>Chapter 17 – His Story Part 3<strong>

"What? Hiccup, I don't understand. You said that you were a villain to the Vikings before you became their hero?" Elsa asked. She was confused and at the same time, felt betrayed.

She felt betrayed because Hiccup had straight up admitted that he has been a bad person, a _villain. _During the short moment they were together, Elsa didn't think Hiccup was evil. Capable of evil, yes, but to Elsa, Hiccup wasn't the type of person to commit into it. True, he had done things that could be considered evil to others but it was…necessary. Furthermore, the stories that Hiccup had told her painted him as a flawed hero and as a person that Elsa could relate.

But then Elsa remembered Hans. Of how the Thirteenth Prince had almost perfectly deceive everyone in her kingdom, including _herself. _

Instantly, frost began to form on her hands. Hiccup doesn't seem to notice this as he stared at Elsa.

'If he tries anything…' Elsa prepared herself.

"I got you hooked now, huh?" Hiccup smirked before he got to his feet and stretched. Elsa wasn't amused as she glared at him. Hiccup wasn't fazed however as he took his time to prepare himself mentally and emotionally.

It wasn't easy for Hiccup to tell Elsa or anyone this story as it contained the darkest chapter of his life yet. It was the story of how his selfishness had caused so much pain to others. It was the story of how he became had created a _monster_ and _villain_._  
><em>

"Before we get to that. You must first understand about another person, Varin Hafrson because this story was about him just as it was about me," Hiccup then sat down and sighed before he pulled out a peculiar pouch from his vest. Before Elsa could eyed the pouch in more detail, Hiccup pulled out its content; a journal.

Elsa eyed the item as Hiccup patted it a few times on his hand. "What is that?" she asked.

"Varin's private journal," Hiccup said and he opened it to inspect the pages. "Luckily for me, he wrote everything down here. It was how I learned his part of the story, although, a bit too late,"

Hiccup then stored the precious item back into the pouch before it went into his vest again. He then patted his chest a few times before he was satisfied. Elsa was disappointed that she might not be able to read it. Private journals were perhaps, the best written source of a person's mind. But alas, it was also the most private so she understood if Hiccup didn't want her to read it.

"After I became the Chief, everything was perfect for a while. Being a Chief was…surprisingly easy and it was all thanks to my dad," Hiccup smiled. "Before I became the Chief, my dad listened to my suggestions on how to improve Berk. Of course, not all my suggestions were gold buuut my dad reasoned that it was better for me to make my mistakes at that time and learn from it before I became the Chief,"

Elsa smiled. Stoick's had finally learned to listen to his son. What was more, Stoick's method was good. He allowed Hiccup the room to experiment and make mistakes during his reign. That way, any damage from the mistake was lessened.

"I learnt from my dad; what he did right and what he did wrong and how I can improve his administration. And it helped tremendously in making my administration running smoothly. Heck, I was even surprised at how well I was doing as the Chief!" Hiccup chuckled and Elsa smiled softly. It was rare for Hiccup to acknowledge that.

"We were happy. But I wasn't satisfied. I want to make them happier," Hiccup continued. "And I thought that in order to do so, I need to explore beyond the Viking Archipelago. I want to meet other culture, learn from them and use that knowledge to improve my people,"

Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "And of course, I decided that I would be the one to do the exploring…alone,"

Elsa narrowed her eyes before asking. "Why alone?"

"Well, if I had brought the entire gang, it would attract a lot of attention, something that I want to avoid. Plus, the travel distance would be quite far. And since Toothless was the _only _fastest dragon, the travel time would be a lot longer if I went with others,"

Elsa pursed her lips and Hiccup glanced at her. "I know, I know. It was a foolish thing to do. Had anything happened to me…well, I did leave Astrid as the acting chief…but yeah, it was a stupid thing to do,"

Elsa didn't say anything and Hiccup continued, grateful for the silence.

"Usually we would travel east or west and when we found land and I would find a good hiding spot for Toothless before I would venture into the nearest town. After a few days, I would return to my village before going out for adventure again. My adventure was successful for a number of times until…we got careless and we were caught by the East India Company," Hiccup said and Elsa perked up at this.

She was familiar with the East India Company. After all, the company was responsible for half of the world's trade, particularly trade in basic commodities that included cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, tea and among other things.

The East India Company was a British joint-stock company created to pursue trading with the Eastern parts of the world. Although they were most famous for their trade influence in India, hence their name. However, they weren't just a mere trading company. They have their own private army that was strong enough to conquer Arendelle more than 5 times if they wished it.

Needless to say, the East India Company was not a force to be taken lightly. And the fact that their interest in Arendelle has been increasing in the past year was worrying Elsa.

"It was a bad situation at that time. As you can imagine, the East India Company became very interested in the Vikings and dragons," Hiccup sighed. "They wanted me to lead them towards the Viking Archipelago but I refused. They tried almost everything, from offering me riches to torture when that didn't work,"

"Hiccup…I'm sorry to hear that," Elsa offered and Hiccup shrugged.

"Eh, it was the lesson for my idiocy anyway. And it has a silver lining for me too," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow at him. How could something horrible have a silver lining? "Because that's how I met Varin,"

Hiccup smiled fondly as he remembered the memory. "At that time, he was known as Malcolm Page and he was working for the Company. Fortunately, there was still a Viking in him to help out a fellow Viking,"

Hiccup chuckled. "You know, although he helped me escape, he didn't want to escape himself. He said that he still has things to do at to the Company," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow. Hiccup knew what it was but didn't want to elaborate on it. It would take too long.

"So I abducted him and just like that we became fugitives," Hiccup chuckled again.

"Still, we couldn't fly back to Berk as Toothless was still captured. So Varin and I have to work together to get him out. So you know, it was an adventure of sorts to us," Hiccup smirked. "It was during that time that I learned what Varin had been through,"

Hiccup's face turned sad and Elsa knew that Varin did not have an easy life. Hiccup sighed before he continued.

"He was...a hiccup like me. You know, sarcastic, witty, smart, talented," Hiccup smirked and Elsa gave him a coy smile.

"I'm not sure about smart. You've done a number of idiotic things," Elsa retorted and Hiccup faked a pained look.

"Ouch! Well, I admit that one," Hiccup said before he continued his story. "Anyway, there were so many similarities between us. The only difference was…luck," Hiccup said and Elsa looked confused. "My life was-is fortunate, blessed even. Even though my early years were rough, they weren't entirely bad,"

"I was fortunate to be born as Stoick the Vast's son because being the Chief's son protected me in a way. Can you imagine what would happen if I wasn't Stoick's son?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.

Hiccup might have been ostracized even further.

"And my father, despite everything, still loved me. True, he didn't know what to do with me when I was young, but he still loved me. Do you know that I was born premature?" Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened and her mouth was open, ready to speak but Hiccup continued his story. "Had I been born to a different Viking father, he might have me killed,"

Elsa didn't say anything. That practice wasn't unusual and were practiced in some cultures. Some cultures would not only kill weak babies, but also _newborn daughters _just because they wanted sons.

"But my father believed in me. He believed that I could become the strongest Viking there is. And it wasn't just my father. The people of Berk was among the nicest Vikings in the world. Sure, they might have ostracized me during my Useless period but that was it. They didn't harm me or enact vengeance on me for my destructive mistakes," Hiccup smiled and his eyes went towards the horizon. Elsa could guess that Hiccup was looking at Berk.

"I destroyed their houses? They would be like, "no time to ponder on what Hiccup did! We need to rebuild quick or we won't have houses for the dragons to burn!" " Hiccup said, mimicking a voice that Elsa surmised was one of his people.

Elsa giggled.

"They're good at moving on, at letting bygones be bygones. It was one of the reason I didn't give up back then. The worse that I would get from my mistakes was a slap on the wrist," Hiccup said.

Elsa smiled. The people of Arendelle were similar to Berk. They didn't hold grudges on what Elsa had done to them. It made her feel happy for both kingdoms. Berk and Arendelle could coexist peacefully despite the differences.

It also made her think about her life.

"I am blessed as well," Elsa started and Hiccup turned his attention towards her. "I was born to royalty and it protected me. If I was a commoner, I would be killed," Hiccup pursed his lips. "And my father, he mirrored yours, Hiccup,"

Hiccup understood and he nodded.

"He could have done better, that was true, but that was because he didn't know any other alternative at that time. However, deep down, I know he still loved me," Elsa continued. "And then I have my sister, Anna,"

'And you did not experience the luxury of having a sibling,' Elsa thought sadly. Hiccup smiled.

Elsa sighed and Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. "We are fortunate, huh? And to think that all of it was because of our parents,"

Elsa nodded before Hiccup sighed.

"But Varin...he wasn't fortunate at all," Hiccup continued. "He was born premature to a father that only wanted healthy sons," Elsa frowned. "He survived because of his mother's love. Even then, he would grew up physically frail,"

"And to make it worse was when he believed he was cursed," Hiccup continued and Elsa gave him a curious look.

"Was the belief enforced to him?" Elsa asked. It could happen. Varin's father could have said that he was cursed and he would believe it.

Hiccup nodded and turned towards Elsa. "In a way, yes. You see, his village had a fortune teller. She told that Varin would bring change to the world, but he could only do it with death,"

Elsa had a horrified look on her face. "That's horrible!"

Hiccup smiled sadly and nodded. "But it rang true…"

Elsa's eyes widened. "What? How?" Elsa wasn't the type to believe in fortune tellers and prophecies so she was skeptical of it. But to see Hiccup believe in it…

"He wanted to prove that he was a Viking, so he joined his father and brothers on an expedition to find new lands. They landed on a village that was lightly guarded. You could expect what happens next," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded.

Raid, pillage and murder.

"Their victory was short lived however because they were in British territory. The British army responded quickly and annihilated all of them except Varin," Hiccup continued and Elsa's eyes widened.

"He then got sold as a slave to a wealthy family that had a daughter. Her name was Celestine Augusta. She was the same age as Varin and she was also a hiccup," Hiccup chuckled. "She wanted to do more with her life instead of just living on her family's riches. She wanted to be more than just a tool for her father. And of course, the two of them fell in love with each other,"

Elsa smiled, grateful that Varin could find some happiness. However, she suspected that it won't end well.

"She wanted to run away from her family and Varin tried to stop her. After all, Varin knew that they wouldn't get very far. But Celestine didn't care so Varin went along with her. They managed to escape, be free and be happy…for a while. Their happiness was cut short when they were caught by their pursuers," Hiccup became silent after that and it made Elsa antsy.

"What happened after that?" Elsa asked.

"It turned out the pursuers didn't want to return Celestine. They wanted to sell her," Elsa gasped. She knew what would happen to most female slaves. "Celestine didn't want to live like that and so she chose death," Hiccup said. "Varin was spared however and he would be sold again. This time however, because of Celestine's influence, he didn't want to become a slave anymore and tried to help his fellow slaves to escape,"

Elsa could guess what would happened.

"He was captured but not before half of the slaves managed to escape. The rest however...most of them were killed, but Varin was spared again," Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow. Varin, despite Hiccup claiming that he was unfortunate, had quite a lucky streak. He was spared twice when he, logically, should have been killed.

"This time, however, he would be sold as a soldier. He fought a number of battles and every time, he would survive. His brother in arms however, weren't so lucky. As such, he was wrecked with survivor's guilt. The people around him...tend to die while he survived,"

"And it made him believe in the prophecy," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

"But Varin, despite all that had happened, still had a good heart. For his 'excellent' service, he was offered a choice; his freedom or become one of East India Company's slavers," Hiccup continued and Elsa frowned.

"That was…generous of them," Elsa said and Hiccup shrugged.

"It happened. The East India Company made him believe that he could do more as a compassionate' slaver. He could make a difference to the slave's lives while still doing what the Company wants," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a skeptical look.

Elsa knew that not all slavers were truly evil as some slave masters truly cared for their slaves.

"Did it work?" Elsa asked and Hiccup's lips became a thin line.

"Sort of. Varin was indeed a slaver that was kinder than others but the slaves took advantage of that," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened. "They tried to escape and usually, death was the punishment for them. In order to avoid that, Varin had to be a bit ruthless,"

Elsa pursed her lips. She wasn't sure what to think of Varin at the moment. Sure, he had a kind intention but the way he tried to achieve it was questionable. However, she could tell what Varin felt. "And it weighed heavily on his conscious,"

Hiccup nodded "Hearing all that made me feel _bad. _I felt angry, sad, and guilty! I have everything that I could wished!" Hiccup said and spread his arms wide, as if gesturing towards everything.

Elsa was the range of his arms and she blushed for second. Fortunately, Hiccup didn't realized it.

"But other people…didn't. It's...sad because for someone to be fortunate, someone else has to be unlucky," Hiccup dropped his arms to his side.

Elsa nodded. It was cruel but that was how the world works. Everything has its pair and without it, they would be meaningless. They give purpose to each other. Death could not exist without life. Without cold, would people appreciate heat and vice versa? And if everyone in the world was lucky, then it would have lost its meaning.

"However, I still want to try and change other people's life for the better. Hearing what Varin had been through made me want to not only improve my own village, but for the rest of the Vikings. I want to stop another 'Varin' from happening," Hiccup continued.

Elsa smiled. Hiccup was emphatic and she admired that quality of his. Most people would not care about the suffering of others. Hiccup could have just return to his old life and live happily but he didn't. He didn't want to be happy alone, he want others to be happy as well.

"And so I told Varin of what I wanted to achieved and that I needed his help," Hiccup said. "He was reluctant of course but I could be persuasive," Hiccup smirked but it didn't last long. "He agreed to help but not in the way I expected,"

At this point Elsa had an idea of what Varin did to help Hiccup.

"I was optimistic at that time but Varin was realistic," Hiccup continued. "When I told him of my plan to unite the Vikings, he had already found two problems," Hiccup raised a finger. "One, despite my achievements, I'm still young. I haven't been a Chief for two years and suddenly I want to be the Chief-of-Chiefs? The Vikings already Chiefs with years of experience, so why would they want to follow me?"

Hiccup sighed. "Sure, I have good ideas on how to improve everything but it doesn't matter if its execution wasn't done well. Being an inventor has thought me that. The other Chiefs could probably do a better job as a King if they wanted to,"

"But they didn't like your idea," Elsa said and Hiccup shrugged.

"What was more, I also need to prove my strength and resolve," Hiccup said and Elsa gave him a sad look.

'And the only way to do that is by fighting,' Elsa thought.

"But that's just the first problem. Even if I managed to show them that I can be a strong and a capable King, it doesn't mean that they have to agree to my ideals. After all, my ideals were…you get the idea," Hiccup said.

Elsa nodded in understanding. "Your idea is life changing and change can be hard to accept, especially massive ones," Hiccup nodded.

"I didn't see it at that time but Varin did. He knew that even if I managed to unite the Vikings by force, my reign could be short. Disgruntled Vikings that preferred the old ways could incite a civil war to remove me from the throne," Hiccup explained. "In order for the Vikings to truly accept me, they need to see that their old ways were destructive to them in the long run,"

"A social revolution," Elsa said calmly.

Hiccup nodded. "A social revolution was inevitable. The only difference was _when. _I thought that I could achieve it after I united the Vikings and show them that my ideals were better. However, it might take too long and by then, it would be too late. Varin planned for the social revolution at the same time as the unification. He wanted to show that that their old ways were _worse. _That way, they would be more…_receptive_,"

Elsa's mouth opened and closed in astonishment. From what Hiccup had told her, some of the Vikings' old ways were already horrible and they were fine with it. So how in the world could Varin convince them that it was bad for them?

"At that point, Varin had two ways to help me. He could either fight by my side to unite the Vikings…or unite the Vikings against him," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened at the realization. "Of course, Varin believed that if he stayed by my side, I would die because of his curse. That and it would be hard for him to incite the social revolution. So he became my enemy instead,"

Elsa's eyes widened as the realization hit her like an avalanche. "So that's what you meant!" Elsa said and Hiccup nodded.

It all made sense now.

"When you announced your plan to the Vikings, you became the _villain _because you wanted to destroy the old ways and replace it with something that was _alien _to them!" Elsa explained in place of Hiccup. "What was more, you became a threat because of your dragons and your resolve to unite them no matter what!"

Hiccup smiled and nodded again. "That was how I became the villain to the Vikings,"

Elsa understood now what Hiccup meant when he said he became their villain. If someone wanted to destroy her kingdom's culture and replace it with something that was…unacceptable, that person would be Arendelle's and Elsa's enemy.

However, in a way, Elsa had done this as well many times before. She had face it a number of times from her administration. She wanted to change a rule, someone would try to fight against it. She wanted to change how things were done, there will be people that would disagree with her. In those people's eyes, she was the villain that tried to destroy their way of living.

Elsa pursed her lips. She had done the same. Forcing her ideals to her people. The difference was that she didn't have to resort to war to do it.

Hiccup sighed. "Varin also knew that I wouldn't agree with what he was going to do, so he acted like he didn't like my plan. He acted like he was afraid of the outside world. Well, that fear was true, but it wasn't the primary reason. Regardless, he managed to fool me with that,"

"Our disagreement eventually got so bad that we split up. Varin said that he would do things his own way and he made good of his word," Hiccup smirked. "The next time I met him was during the Chieftain meeting where I was going to announce my plan. Imagine to my surprise that he was already a Chief!"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "How did he became a Chief?"

Hiccup shrugged. "He killed the previous Chief,"

"I see…"

"Anyway, after I announced my plan to be the King, as you can expect, everyone didn't like the idea. Even the 'good' leaders were skeptical of me and it was made worse when I said that I would unite them no matter what," Hiccup continued. "At that time, all of the Chieftains were more likely to unite _against _me,"

Hiccup smiled fondly. "Then Varin made his move. He also declared that he wanted to be the King, except that he wanted to unleash them upon the world. Now you would think that the Vikings would like Varin more than I do, right?"

Elsa nodded.

"Not really. He fooled everyone into thinking that he was a _psychopath. _What was more impressive was that he managed to scare the living shit out of everyone,_" _Hiccup said and Elsa was shocked and impressed at the same time.

It was not easy to scare warriors that were not afraid to die.

"And just like that, the Viking Archipelago was split into four factions; mine, Varin's, the faction that wants to eliminate the both of us and the neutral faction," Hiccup chuckled. "As you can imagine, my faction wasn't very popular and neither was Varin's. However, that would soon change,"

Elsa perked up at this. She was curious at how Varin would achieve his plan.

"Varin's faction was getting stronger every day as he was extremely aggressive, even to Viking standards. Also, he wasn't just aggressive. Remember when I say that he acted like a psychopath?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.

"Well…he did a _great _job at that. He _flayed _the skins of the Chief's that he had conquered and would wear it into battle or just gift it to the neutral Chiefs," Hiccup said and Elsa gasped. "He would also _sew _body parts from corpses on still living people. I've once encountered a _three headed _soldier. And that wasn't the worst thing that he could do,"

Elsa looked like she wanted vomit. "That is-! And his faction was okay with that?!"

Hiccup shook his head. "No. They've tried many times to kill him but he was…_abnormally_ strong, even before he discovered his…_power,"_

Elsa's eyes widened at this. "Power? Do you mean…?"

Hiccup nodded. "He has control over _death,"_

"What?!"

Hiccup nodded. "He could raise corpses to fight for him and that broke the Viking's will. Before this they weren't afraid of death. They welcome it because they knew that they could go to Valhalla. But if you fight against Varin, he would deny you that. At that point, the Vikings weren't very eager to head to their deaths,"

Varin managed to actually make warriors that weren't afraid of death, _afraid of death. _

Hiccup looked saddened at this. "At first, he didn't know that he had that power. He awakened it when he was poisoned by a traitor early in the campaign," Elsa's looked horrified at this.

"He became an undead?!" Elsa asked.

Hiccup nodded. "Even in death…" Hiccup tightened his hand into a fist. "Even when he gained mastery over death, he still has a good heart. He knew that his work wasn't finished yet, so he rise again,"

At this point, a tear fell from Hiccup's left eye. "And so the prophecy rang true,"

'_The only way he could bring change to the world around him, was with death,' _Elsa remembered.

"No…" was all that Elsa could say.

"And that was went he became insane," Hiccup said. His eyes were closed as he remembered a section of Varin's journal that chronicled his thoughts after the discovery.

_MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER_

The same word were repeated again and again in ugly scribbles. When compared to his other entries that were well written, it revealed the heartbreaking truth that Varin had snapped. He had became the mask that he wore. Instead of acting like a psychopath, he became a true psychopath.

Hiccup sighed and he opened his eyes again before he wiped another tear. "Even when he was insane, he still went with his plan," Hiccup shook his head in admiration.

"Everyone was afraid of him, even his allies. He was near unstoppable and the only person that has a chance to defeat him, was me," Hiccup continued as he wiped his tear away.

Elsa gasped as the realization hit her again.

"He became the villain and made you the hero!" Elsa stated and Hiccup nodded before he gaze into the horizon again.

"Near the end of the war, every Viking joined my side, even Varin's allies. All Varin had left was his undead soldiers…" Hiccup said sadly. "Of course, at that point it doesn't matter anymore because he _won. _His plan worked. He made me the hero that united the Vikings against the greatest villain they had ever known,"

"It was only when he had achieved his…" Hiccup hesitated. "…destiny…that he allowed himself to be permanently killed,"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Elsa said, saddened by the ending. Hiccup shook his head.

"It was what he wanted. I guess for someone that was associated with death, it completes his journey," Hiccup explained.

"Still…" Elsa tried.

Hiccup sighed before he pulled out his pocket watch. He then opened it to reveal Varin's portrait before giving it to Elsa. She took it carefully and ran finger to admire Varin's portrait.

It was no wonder why Varin looked so sad in that portrait. The burden that he shouldered was immense. What was impressive was that Varin shouldered it willingly without being forced. Even more impressive was how strong Varin's will was. Despite all that he had been through, he didn't give up or give in to the temptation brought by his power. He could have just…stop. He didn't have to give everything to help Hiccup. And he could have brought chaos to the world with his powers if he wished. But he didn't.

'Why? Why would he go so far? What made him go to such great lengths?' Elsa wondered but she knew the answer.

Because Varin has a good soul that wished to do good things, just like Elsa and Hiccup. It was just that, the only good that he could do was through death. When all you have was a hammer… By helping Hiccup with his dream, in a way Varin ultimately achieved his own dream of doing a good deed as well, even if the world might not see it that way.

A tear fell from Elsa and it landed on Varin's portrait. Elsa empathized with Varin. Before she had learned to control her power, she had tried so hard not to hurt anyone. She tried so hard not to give in to her powers, to not become evil. But no matter how hard she tried, it only made things worse. It was only with Anna's help that she was saved.

Elsa wondered what would happen if she had managed to escape Arendelle at that time? Would she become...different? Or perhaps evil?

At that moment, she felt a deep respect and admiration for the unsung hero.

"To the Viking, I'm their hero but…" Hiccup started and Elsa turned her attention to him.

"A hero is nothing without the conflict that he has to overcome or the villain that he has to defeat. Before I united the dragons, the conflict was the misunderstanding between dragons and Vikings and the villain was the Dragon Queen. Before I became the Chief of Berk, the conflict was when Drago wanted to use the dragons for evil purposes and he was the villain. And before I became the King…" Hiccup said and got to his feet.

"He knew that I would need a grand conflict and a greater villain than before!" Hiccup said in a rather excited tone as he spread his arms again. But Elsa knew that Hiccup wasn't happy. "I…" Hiccup started in a defeated tone. "I created my own _conflict and villain. _What kind of hero am I? And I have to keep this secret to the grave! If the Vikings knew…Varin's sacrifice would be pointless!"

"I wanted to make things better for people like Varin and yet, he was the one that suffered the most! What kind of person am I?" Hiccup said sadly.

It was then that Elsa had finally understood why Hiccup was so hard on himself about his leadership. The price that he had to pay was high. It was a price that if Hiccup had knew beforehand, he might not choose to pay at all.

And it also become part of the fear of why Hiccup was afraid of the outside world. He was afraid that he might lose his throne and that would make all the sacrifice pointless.

However, although Elsa had helped Hiccup overcome his fear, there was one more obstacle in the Viking King's way; guilt. Guilt at what he had done, at what he had paid to come this far.

"You know, after Varin's sacrifice…I became afraid of the outside world and my people. But I also hated them," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened.

"I hated the outside world. I hated how they could be so cruel to each other," Hiccup continued. "But most of all, I hated the Vikings because they were much worse,"

"I hated them for making things hard! If only they weren't so stubborn! If only they would just…listen! And what's worse, a few months after Varin's death, some of them acted as if his sacrifice had never happened!" Hiccup said through gritted teeth.

Elsa stood up and went towards Hiccup. "Do you still harbor that hate?" she asked.

Hiccup was quiet for a moment before he replied. "No," Hiccup said and turned towards Elsa with sad eyes. "Because I'm the same,"

The Viking King's gazed turned towards the floor, ashamed to look at the Snow Queen. "If only I wasn't so stubborn, if only I had listened. And I…hated Varin because he caused Astrid's death,"

Elsa's eyes widened in shock. She wanted to ask how but she knew that it would only make things worse. And what was more, she knew that Hiccup felt _disgusted _at himself for blaming Varin when Hiccup was the true cause.

'Astrid and Varin wouldn't have died if I wasn't so selfish!' Elsa guessed in her mind at what Hiccup was thinking.

And she was correct.

It was clear that the guilt was tearing Hiccup apart. Something must be done or Elsa feared that Hiccup would only destroy himself. But how?

Before hearing his story, Elsa didn't know what to truly say to Hiccup to make him be less hard on himself. However, now she knew just what to say.

"Hiccup," Elsa started by placing her hand under Hiccup's chin to bring his eyes to her. "Why do you keep having these negative views on almost everything? Yes, the world can be cruel but I thought we've established that it can be kind as well? I would be very disappointed and angry to learn that what we've been through was for nothing!"

Hiccup smiled a little smile. "And yes, the Vikings might be the worst people in the world but from what I've seen so far, they're a diamond in the rough. They're waiting for _you _to bring out the best in them. And so far, you're doing a great job,"

Hiccup's eyes became soft.

'Astrid,' Elsa wanted to say but she was surprised that she couldn't. She didn't know much about her as Hiccup was extremely secretive about her. It shows that Hiccup might not be ready to talk about her since he was willing to share about Varin.

And so Elsa chose not to talk about Astrid.

Elsa sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again. "As for Varin…yes, you've made him into a villain. However, he had already accepted that that was the only way that he could achieve something good!" Hiccup's smile faded but Elsa pushed forward.

"Don't you see Hiccup? If given the choice of using his power for someone else, for himself or for you, who do you think he would choose? You've given him a far better fate than if he had never met you. And what was more he didn't just do it for you but he did it for himself as well," Elsa finished and Hiccup's eyes widened as he remembered Varin's last moment with him.

"_Dammit! It doesn't have to happen this way! It didn't have to end like this!" Hiccup scrambled towards Varin. _

"_This is my choice," Varin said. Even when his body was riddled with arrows and crossbow bolts, Varin was still quite healthy for someone in that situation. Varin also had regained his sanity._

"_Why?! Why dammit why?! I don't want this!" Hiccup said and Varin laughed._

"_The story doesn't just revolve around you, hero. No," Varin shook his head. "I did this for myself. I want to be the villain to the Vikings rather than…" Varin's eyelids then drooped before the light in his eyes started to fade. _

"_Varin!" _

"_Thank you Hiccup. You've given me a wonderful role," Varin finished. His eyelids didn't close completely but his eyes were already devoid of life. His body then went limb and dragged against the tree that he was leaning on until the ground stopped him._

_Varin Hafrson would not die unless he wished for his death. And now, his wish was fulfilled._

Much like Hiccup, Varin had a sarcastic streak. At that moment, Hiccup thought that Varin was mocking him with his final words as a form of revenge. Hiccup, because of his guilt and self-punishment, had never thought that Varin had actually been _honest._

The revelation struck Hiccup hard and for the second time in that day, he cried his heart out again. Elsa smiled and lend her shoulder as she embraced him.

And for the moment, there was only The Snow Queen and The Viking King in the world.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Alright! Elsa has been doing a great job at thawing Hiccup's heart! Wait a minute! This chapter's title should be How To Thaw A Frozen Heart IV! Oh well. Tell me what you think, readers! Oh and do review, as of now, this story has 666 reviews. That's kinda creepy, hahaha.

**Read and Review!**


	19. Chapter 18: Conspiracies & Consequences

**Author's Note: **702 hundred reviews! That is awesome guys! Now after quite a lot of chapters on Hiccup and Elsa, it is time for Anna to shine in the spotlight! And some other characters.

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><p><strong>Chapter 18 – <strong>Conspiracies<strong> and **Consequences****

The ride or in their case, flight back to the castle was a silent one. Anna didn't mind however, as it was the good kind of silence. The silent and calm flight was just as enjoyable as their initial adrenaline-fueled flight. It also gave her the time to think and process today's experience.

The day started quite badly, no thanks to the Viking King's attitude. Thankfully however, it was handled soon enough and the two monarchs were on good terms. After that, well, Anna didn't know much about Hiccup to make judgments about him. However, it seemed that Elsa liked Hiccup well enough to invite him to her ice castle!

That was a huge step. Elsa's ice castle was a very private place and so far, only Anna and Kristoff were the only people allowed there. Well, Kristoff had asked Elsa's permission for other ice harvesters to use it during emergency. Elsa allowed it but both Royal Sisters doubted that there will be any emergencies that would require her ice castle.

Really, the ice castle was located on top of a mountain. Who the heck would climb mountains during emergencies? Well, normal emergencies might not apply but abnormal ones such as deluge, war, or just about anything that was really, really horrible can be considered. Or running away from a country when one had a power breakdown can be considered as well.

Anna always wondered how in the world Elsa had managed to went to the top of the mountain without problem...or a sled.

Anyway, thinking about today's experience made Anna feel giddy, happy and most importantly _proud. _Anna was proud of her sister for being able to handle the supposedly 'barbaric, evil, uncompromising' Viking King. But most of all, Anna was proud of _herself._

To be more specific, she was proud of her contribution for the day. After all, without her, Elsa would not have talk sense into Hiccup and the whole day would have gone badly. Without Anna, Elsa might have been a little bit clueless on where to bring Hiccup for the tour of the town. Without the Princess, the Snow Queen might not have flown with the Viking King.

So really, the reason why this whole day went so well was because of her, the Princess or the 'spare'.

It was not to say that Anna was a prideful person and that she would brag what she had accomplished. Oh no, it wasn't like that at all! It was just that, it was rare for Anna to able to help her sister. Elsa had done so much for her. She had protected Anna in expense of her own happiness for 13 years! She also allowed Anna to continue her relationship with Kristoff and much more.

In their relationship, Anna had been 'taking', a lot. She realized that. It was rare for Anna to be able to 'give' in return, especially something as life changing as today. And that feeling of giving something and seeing the positive result firsthand was…_amazing, priceless. _

Anna smiled.

Little did she know, that feeling would turn on itself.

**...**

It was already dark and yet the Princess and Queen of Arendelle hasn't return to the Royal Castle. For Frederik Harvar, this should be a cause of great worry. However, he wasn't worried, only annoyed. He wished they would be back already so that he wouldn't have to wait for them for so long.

'Another 30 minutes, I guess?' Frederik thought while he repeatedly tapped the pommel of his sword.

And so Frederik decided to spend the time by thinking about the one thing that was more important than his life, his duty towards Arendelle.

Frederik Harvar was Arendelle's General of the Army and it was his duty to protect Arendelle from threats, inside and out. Truth to be told, outside threats were easy. The worst situation that could happen would be war and Frederik wasn't really worried about that. War was something that he could manage. If he couldn't, he wouldn't be the General after all.

It was the inside threats that were hard as they need to be handled differently. He couldn't use the usual sword and shield method of dealing with outside threats but instead he must use the cloak and daggers method. It wasn't that Frederik couldn't _play dirty_. Oh, he could _assassinate _people just as well as he could fight them to the death.

It was just that he didn't want to. Unfortunately, most of the time he had to.

Frederik could handle normal inside threats well enough and according to his own standards, he did a great job so far. After all, he was the reason why there wasn't any revolt against the Queen. All this time, Elsa thought the people of Arendelle were saints because they didn't demand her to be burned like a witch.

Oh, that wasn't true. If only Elsa could hear what those rotten apples had wanted to do to her. Fortunately for the Queen, she doesn't have to.

Unfortunately, Elsa herself would pose a threat to Arendelle in the future.

Her powers had made her too powerful in the eyes of the world leaders. The Snow Queen wasn't someone that they could turn ignore even if they wanted to. And so, if they can't have her, they will destroy her, even if it meant Arendelle was in the way. Frederik could handle wars, but that doesn't mean that he could win all of them, especially not when the whole world might unite against you.

Thus, to prevent that risk, Elsa would have to be _removed_ before that could happen.

But that brought up another problem, namely, the Royal Princess Anna. Once Elsa was gone, she would take the throne, except that she wasn't fit to be a Queen yet. Sure, she was a people's person, even more so than Elsa. If there was a popularity contest, she would probably win in the social department. However, she was also impulsive, ignorant of the consequences of her actions and tend to lack common sense.

It was those..._flaws _that had almost destroy Arendelle during the Great Freeze and not Elsa's powers.

Oh, Frederik had prepared for _years _along with the late King on how to manage Elsa should she lose control of her powers. As for Anna, he did not prepare a contingency plan to deal with her mostly because he did not think it was required for her. Well, clearly he was wrong. Clearly, the whims of a teenager was more dangerous than a young adult with magical powers.

Anna had completely caught him of guard with her actions that people with common sense wouldn't do. She tried to marry someone she just met for the first time and lo, she had to pick the rotten one. Then she went after her sister alone, leaving him to hold the castle instead of going after Elsa.

The General scowled. All those years of planning were almost derailed by a wildcard that he and the others thought were harmless.

And if that wasn't enough, she decided to hook up with a mountain man. It wouldn't be so bad if said mountain man didn't liked his reindeer more than people and have some clue on how to run a country. Coupled with Anna's own abysmal country ruling skills and you would get a recipe for disaster. Frederik and the others had hoped that Anna's choice of husband would at least be decent. However, it seemed even that was too much to hope for.

'If only Hans weren't rotten,' Frederik thought.

Frederik sighed and he took out a golden pocket watch. The watch has the inscription of his name on the back and a portrait of himself on the inside. Frederik glared at the device for a moment, as if it was the cause of all the problems in his life. He clicked his tongue and opened the watch to look at the time.

It was 8.30 p.m. and it was past the Royal Princesses' dinnertime. He wasn't worried, only annoyed.

Frederik snorted as he closed the watch. He was like an annoyed father waiting to discipline his children that came back home from a late outdoor session.

That wasn't far from the truth actually. Frederik was appointed by the late King to be the Royal Sisters' godfather, which according to the General, was a bad idea. But the late King and Queen thought otherwise.

'And you thought that they would know better,' Frederik shook his head.

The General sighed and rubbed his temples. He already has a country to worry about. Making him their godfather could make him attached and that would be bad. That was why he didn't have any children. Attachments would only slow him down. As such, the General rarely stepped in the role that was entrusted to him and he appear more as a distant and somewhat grumpy uncle that rarely exercised his rights as a guardian.

And because of that, it made him partly responsible and at fault for Anna's behavior. Even with Anna's shenanigans that most parents would consider extreme and unacceptable, Frederik rarely scold her in place of her father. And that made Anna tend to disregard the consequences of her actions.

To be fair, her parents rarely scold her as well. Raise a child without punishment for his wrong doings and he would think that he could do no wrong.

Now he has to rectify that mistake before Anna took over Arendelle, which, according to _the plan, _Frederik and the others have almost a year to do so.

'Not much time left. Damn, I should have acted a lot sooner,' Frederik thought.

"Sir! It seems that the Princess has returned!" one of his guards told him. Frederik then turned his attention to the sky and sure enough, the silhouette of a four winged dragon could be seen. However, the black dragon that was carrying the Queen was nowhere in sight. That would mean two things; King Hiccup and Elsa might be late or they might went somewhere else, probably the Ice Castle.

Instantly, the gears in his mind began to turn and the General grinned. Frederik hoped that it was the latter, because it might just provide him with the perfect opportunity to further his plan.

**…**

When they arrived at the castle garden, Anna couldn't find the Viking twins. That would mean they have either returned to their ship or were waiting for them inside. However, she did found the General and Arendelle's guards. Anna had expected for the General to look grumpy but much to her surprise, the General...grinned?

It was so out of character for him that Anna had to shook her head to make sure that she didn't imagined it. When she looked at the General again, the grin had disappeared. She didn't have time to ponder about it however as Fafnir the dragon touched the ground. Anna and Kristoff then quickly got off before the Princess looked up to the Sigurd.

"Thanks for the ride! Join us for dinner!" Anna offered.

Sigurd smiled. "I need to return Fafnir to the ship first and get the twins,"

"How do you know the twins are at the ship?" Anna asked.

"They might not even be there," Sigurd shrugged. "If they're inside your castle, tell them to stay put until I come,"

Anna grinned. "Alright. I'll send a messenger to notify you when it's time,"

Sigurd nodded and he motioned for Fafnir fly again. With a single flap of its four wings and a push from its legs, the dragon took off to the sky. A few seconds later and the dragon was gone.

"Phew! What a day!" Anna said and Kristoff nodded. He was about to speak when someone beat him to it.

"Where's the Queen?" Frederik asked behind Anna, causing her to go stiff. Anna didn't instantly turn to face the General. Instead, she took a deep breath and steeled herself before facing Frederik. Anna had already prepared herself for this situation in her mind.

'_Relax, relax! It's only the General! Your uncle!' _Anna told herself.

In her mind, she would told the General what had happened and he would predictably get angry and stuff. Anna would then use her Princess authority to prevent Frederik from butting in Elsa's and Hiccup's moment and then that's all to it. The General won't be able to do anything about it and the worse that Anna would get was just some complaints from the General. Even then Anna doesn't have to listen to it.

'Just a slap on the wrist!' Anna thought confidently.

When Anna faced the General, he had his arms crossed and a furious look on his face that could make grown men cower. It also reminded Anna of her father when he was really angry.

In that moment, Anna was reminded that even though she was the Princess and Frederik was just the General, the man still held a degree of authority over her and even Elsa the Queen.

It was the authority of a father figure. And right now, what had happened wasn't something a father figure would like.

Unfortunately, had Frederik Harvar stepped in that role more frequently after the King's death, Anna wouldn't think that all she could get was just a slap on the wrist.

"Elsa and Hiccup is at the ice castle," Anna said bravely. Kristoff realized this and hold her hand and gave it a squeeze for support.

Frederik narrowed his eyes. "And when will they be coming back to the castle?"

"I think they will have dinner there. They might return to the castle or they might spend the night there," Anna replied.

Frederik sighed and rubbed his temple. "And why aren't you there with her?"

"I don't want to interrupt them," replied Anna.

Frederik was silent for a moment before he glared at Anna. "And do you think that is a good idea?"

To Anna's own surprise, she hesitated. Why would she hesitate? Before this, she was damn sure that it was a good idea. Heck it was the best! Now however, she wasn't so sure. Still, she decided to stand by her decision.

"Yes,"

"And why is that?" Frederik asked.

"Because I believe that Elsa can take care of herself should anything happens and I believe that Hiccup is a good person," Anna answered confidently and proudly.

Frederik was silent again and it was maddening for the Princess. To her, it was just as effective, if not, more in breaking her will and confidence than words.

For Anna, silence was rarely a good thing. Anna's parents had realized that the silent treatment was a more effective form of punishment for her. Of course, this was rarely enforced as Elsa's own silent treatment was bad enough for Anna.

"Well?" Anna challenged.

"I ask you again, do you really think that it is a good idea?" Frederik asked again.

Anna hesitated again but her answer was the same. "Yes, I trust the both of them. I trust that they won't do anything immoral and that Elsa can take care of herself,"

Frederik's sighed and he shook his head in disappointment. "Ah, yes, you trust the both of them. You trust the Viking King whom you've met only today and even then you hardly spent any time with him. Need I remind you that you've spent more time with Hans and yet how did that turn out?"

Hearing that caused Anna's face to become red. In her mind, she never thought that her uncle would use her past against her.

Kristoff also thought the same. "Woah there! Let's not open old wounds! Besides, this is about Elsa, not Anna,"

Frederik glared at Kristoff, causing the mountain-man to flinch. "This has everything to do with Anna!" the General said through clenched teeth. "All of this is because of her! All because she refused _think!" _

"Excuse me?!" Anna said angrily. Frederik turn his attention to her and didn't back down.

"That's right, you don't think! You just act on your feelings," Frederik claimed.

"I did think! I know that Elsa and the Viking King can be trusted!" Anna countered.

"You trust Elsa who have little to no experience in romance and intimacy. She is just like you when you met Hans," Frederik replied.

Anna clenched her hands into fists. "Elsa isn't like…like me! She knows better!" It was a hard statement to make but Anna have accepted that Elsa would always be better than her.

Frederik narrowed his eyes. "She is still a human. A human that lacked romantic and sexual experience and that makes her vulnerable,"

"Elsa is not that weak! She wasn't easily swayed by the other suitors before! And this one will be the same!" Anna countered.

"I agree with Anna, Elsa is a sensible person," Kristoff tried to support Anna only for Frederik to glare at him, daring him to interfere again. Kristoff involuntarily gulped.

"Have you forgotten that Hans fooled you by acting as the perfect Prince Charming? Your experience with Hans has made Elsa wary of the usual Princes that come to court her,' Frederik explained.

In Anna's mind, it was true. King Hiccup was completely different from the standard fare of Princes and Dukes that came for Elsa. However, that doesn't mean that King Hiccup has evil intentions like Hans.

"King Hiccup isn't like Hans! He isn't a deceiver!" Anna claimed.

"And how would you know? Have you spent years dealing with thieves, liars and murderers to know one? You only had one experience and you think you've known them all?" Frederik challenged and Anna was fuming.

"I don't have to! I know-" Anna was cut off by Frederik who raised a hand to stop her.

"Stop. The fact that you think like that shows how naïve you are. And foolish as well," Frederik said.

Anna pursed her lips. "Well I don't care what you think!" she said and wanted to storm inside but Frederik stopped her with a slap, surprising Anna and Kristoff.

The sound echoed throughout the gardens and silence followed soon after.

Anna was so shocked that she didn't even turn her face towards Frederik. The pain stung so much that her eyes began to tear. Never in her whole life had anybody slapped her. Not even her father.

Kristoff wanted to interfere but Frederik had anticipated this.

"If you know what's good for her, you'll stay out of this," Frederik warned. Kristoff wanted to argue but Frederik didn't give him a chance.

"And that's your problem Anna. You don't care or think about the negative consequences that could come from your actions," Frederik continue. "You wanted to marry Hans the first day you met him! What do you think would happen had Elsa allowed it?"

Anna's eyes widened as she remembered what Hans' plans were.

"_I figured after we were married, I would have to stage a little accident for Elsa," Hans said._

That wasn't fair. How could she knew what Hans were planning? Before Hans, her opinion of princes were colored by fairy tales and romance books.

"And then after Elsa revealed her powers and ran to the mountains, what did you do?" Frederik asked the question that everybody knew the answer for. "You went after her, _alone_,"

"_But then she doomed herself and you were dumb enough to go after her," Hans continued._

Elsa had also scolded her on that part. She should have taken a guard along with her.

"You were lucky that you came across Oaken and Kristoff. If not you would have died! What do you think would happen should Elsa know that you were dead because of her, hmm?"

Elsa would most likely freeze the whole world and it will be her fault.

"You were extremely lucky, Anna. But how long are you going to depend on luck? Have you ever wondered about the consequences of your actions when luck wasn't a factor?" Frederik pressed on.

"You left Elsa alone with a stranger, "Frederik pointed towards the ice castle. "We wouldn't even dare to leave her alone with a blind cripple that has a rusty blunt knife. But you, you left her alone with a skilled warrior that has a dragon with him! And you dare think that he couldn't harm Elsa?"

Anna's optimism died like a candle whose flame was blown by the wind. The logic part of Anna, the one that wasn't clouded by her desire agreed with the General.

"I…but Hiccup…wouldn't," Anna tried to say.

"What if you were wrong? Have you ever thought about that?" Frederik cut her down. "What if the Viking King had wanted to invade Arendelle all along? You've just given him the best chance to take out the only person that could stop them!"

Anna's eyes widened again as her mind imagined the scenario of Elsa lying in a puddle of blood in her ice castle. Her eyes were open and staring at her accusingly. Then, dragons began to swarm Arendelle.

And it will be her fault.

"And honestly, that's the most merciful thing that could happen to her. Maybe the Viking King doesn't want war but he just want your sister as conquest. If she was willing, then that wouldn't be so bad. But what if she wasn't and the Viking King had his way with her?"

Her imagination went wild again and this time, it was crueler than the last.

_Elsa looked fine when she returned from the ice castle. However, once the Vikings had left and when Elsa was in closed doors only then she revealed that she was broken. She didn't want to be touched and she would have nightmares that was even worse than when she had hurt Anna. _

Anna's heart tightened at that. She could imagine the backlash that could come from it.

"_You have a man that loves you! Me?! Who could love me after this?!" Elsa screamed at her._

"N-no!" Anna instinctively said and she hugged herself. That wasn't what she wanted!

"Oh I'm not finished, Anna. What would happen if Elsa were to get pregnant, hmm? Do you think that she would go with the abortion? Knowing Elsa, she wouldn't. What if the Viking King didn't want anything to do with Elsa and the child after that? Then, you would have a fatherless child on your conscience. Can you live with yourself then?" Frederik pushed on.

"_Mama, why is Auntie Elsa's child doesn't have a father like I do?" _

Anna could imagine her child asking her that question. Would she be that cruel? To condemn a child to a life like that while hers would still have their father? No, Anna wouldn't. She couldn't. And to think that all of it could happen because of her naïve desire to help her sister.

That revelation was too much for Anna and her knees dropped to the garden floor. "No! No!"

"Hey, hey! Don't you think that you're blowing this out of proportion?!" Kristoff grabbed the General's shirt and challenged his stare.

The General did not flinch. "If you have a daughter, would you leave her alone with a stranger?" Frederik asked calmly.

Kristoff's eyes widened. "I-I,"

"I thought so," Frederik finished for him. "And it is my duty to overthink situations like these. In fact, it is the duty of those that are responsible for the lives of many to think far ahead and worry for the worst outcome. What's the worst that you have to worry about, Kristoff Bjorgman? Your next meal? Your reindeer?!"

"I…" Kristoff suddenly found that he couldn't look the General in the eye. His grip slackened and the General slapped his hands away before turning his attention at Anna.

"Anna, look at me," Frederik said and Anna weakly looked up at him.

"You are not a fairytale princess that could do no wrong. Your actions will have consequences. You were just lucky that things turn out for the best. But what if it didn't? Can you live with the outcome?" Frederik said and Anna turned her gaze away.

"You're not a princess whose duty is to only wait for her prince and provide heir. Just because Elsa is the Queen it doesn't mean that you have little to no responsibility," Frederik continued and this time, he turn his gaze at Kristoff.

"And you," Frederik caught Kristoff's attention. "Anna isn't a peasant that doesn't have any strings attached to her. She has a burden, namely Arendelle. To be with her means that you have to share that burden. Even if you marry her and the highest title you could gain is the King Consort, it doesn't mean that you can just…freeload,"

"I know that!" Kristoff said angrily at what the General had implied.

"Do you?!" Frederik countered and it was his turn to grab Kristoff's shirt. "What can you provide for Arendelle in return? Ice?! In a kingdom ruled by the Snow Queen?! If it weren't for Elsa's good will, you would have been made _insignificant!" _

Kristoff's tongue failed him. Not that he has anything to say in his defense.

"Royal Ice Master and Deliverer?! A title specially made for you because of your connection to the Princess?! Don't make me laugh!" Frederik said released his grip.

"What else can you provide, hmm? A child?" Frederik snorted. "And even THAT wouldn't worth much, especially when paired with Anna,"

Kristoff fumed and rage bubbled within him. The General had put him into place but enough was enough! He could only saw red when he delivered a punch at the General.

Only to find that the General had skillfully grabbed it and twist Kristoff's hand behind him painfully. Kristoff screamed in pain but the General silenced him with his next word.

"There's a good reason why the council doesn't like you. And it wasn't because you weren't a noble or rich. Oh no," Frederik shook his head. "We didn't care about that. Hell, we would have preferred a farm boy over you. Do you know why?"

Kristoff didn't answer. He didn't want to give the General that satisfaction.

"Because even a farm boy would realize how lucky he is to be able to court the Princess. And he would do everything that he could to improve himself, so that he would be worthy of not only the Princess but also the people that she is responsible for. In the past two years, what have you done to improve yourself, ice harvester?" Frederik said before he twist Kristoff around and pushed him, causing the mountain man to fall on his bottom while facing the General.

"Your social skills is still comparable to an ape. And to think that you're going to be a public figure along with Elsa and Anna. You are going to represent Arendelle to the world and yet, after two years you could still embarrass them in front of foreign powers with your brutish etiquette," Frederik glared at Kristoff.

Kristoff could only glare in defiance and balled his hands into fists.

"I'm not asking you to change what you are completely. I'm asking you to improve. You might not care about what others think about you, but honestly, you won't have that luxury if you are serious about Anna. It won't be just about you anymore, Kristoff Bjorgman. Think about that," Frederik said and turned his attention back to Anna.

"And this isn't just about you Anna. Is your desire to help Elsa truly for her sake? Or are you doing this just to make yourself feel useful?" Frederik questioned.

Anna's eyes widened before she looked away. Frederik sighed before he walked away from the wrecked pair.

**...**

Silence followed after the General's departure for a moment, but it felt like an eternity to Kristoff.

'What the heck was that?!' Kristoff thought and punched the ground. It all escalated too quickly for the ice harvester. Everything was fine until the General decided to explode on them!

'That was uncalled for!' Kristoff thought again. However, he couldn't deny that the General was right in everything, especially about him.

It wasn't fair to say that Kristoff didn't do anything to improve. He did! He tried his best to fit in! He had learned everything about royal etiquette and stuff!

'But it wasn't enough! When will it be enough?!' Kristoff thought angrily.

"I shouldn't have left Elsa alone…" Anna said weakly, breaking Kristoff out of his thoughts. "I just – I thought I was doing something nice for her!"

In that instant, Kristoff's anger and self-doubt dissipated as the desire to comfort Anna dominated his being. The ice harvester then went to hug her. "Come on feisty pants, it's not your fault," Kristoff tried.

"It is my fault! Everything is my fault!" Anna said and in a surprising burst of strength, broke free of Kristoff's embrace. "I have to go to Elsa!"

Anna only spared him a glance before she ran off to somewhere.

"Wha?" Kristoff was dumbstruck for a moment before he shook his head. "Anna, wait!" The ice harvester quickly went after her, hoping that she would not do something dangerous again.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Well that escalated quickly.

**Read and Review!**


	20. Chapter 19: To Alter Fate

**Author's Note: **I'm back! Now it seems that people were angry about The General! And some even sided with him! Hohoho! And now after this chapter you there will be more people for you to get angry at!

So a few Q&A session. Haven't had these for a while.

**elsa101/Elsa101:** They will kiss, relax! I have to tell you though, this story is a slow burn. So, uh, hang on?

**Single Silver Eye:** The answer to your question is simple: there will be a much bigger fish than Elsa.

**DualStarduster:** That's the point!

**Guest:** I'm sorry, what? I sort of get what your saying but I'm not sure if it was what you meant. Anyway, the answer to your question is in this chapter.

Alright so let's move on!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19 – To Alter Fate<strong>

Lending a shoulder for someone to cry on was a rare occurrence for Elsa. So rare in fact that not even even Anna had that privilege...yet. It wasn't that Elsa didn't allow Anna to do so but rather, Anna said that she didn't have anything to cry about.

That and usually it was the other way around with Anna.

Now, the Snow Queen had come to the conclusion that lending a shoulder for someone was a wonderful experience. However, she preferred for it to be done while sitting. Her legs were starting to ache from standing for quite a while now.

She considered lowering themselves to the floor to save her poor legs but she was afraid that it would disrupt the moment. Fortunately, she didn't have to do it as King Hiccup broke the embrace. He then quickly wiped his tears and smiled at her. His eyes were red but to Elsa, he was still handsome.

"You seem to have a knack for this kind of thing,"

Elsa smiled. "It wasn't a big deal. You would have done the same for me,"

Hiccup smiled. "Still, thank you. It means a lot to me," Hiccup said and hold both of Elsa's hands.

Elsa blushed and looked at Hiccup's chest. "It's-it's nothing,"

"Really? I'm pretty sure that it is not nothing to get a private 'cry-on-her-shoulder' session with the Queen," Hiccup grinned.

Elsa fixed him a stern glare, wanting to remind him not to tell anyone about tonight. However, before she could even say a word, Hiccup had beat her to it.

"Don't worry. I won't tell a soul, that's a promise. It will be our secret," Hiccup said emphasized on the last word sensually. If there was one thing that Hiccup knew about woman was that they sort of like secrets. The good kind of course.

He then made a show of kissing her right hand, all the while training his eyes on her.

The effect was apparent as Elsa blushed even harder and her body became quite hot. And for that to happen when she wasn't near fire was a rare occurrence as well. Elsa's hand felt as if it was on fire and she wanted to pull away from the source of that heat. However, her body was unresponsive to her will.

It felt like an eternity when Hiccup finally released her hand, all the while maintaining a smirk on his face. Oh how she wanted to freeze that smirk off his face! However, she wasn't sure that her powers would work at the moment.

"Well-well that's good to hear then. It will reflect badly on you if you break your promise," Elsa said and turned away from him to pick up the empty mugs from the floor.

Once Elsa was away however, it was only then Hiccup had realized what he had done.

He was rather intimate with the Snow Queen! Granted, it wasn't much as he only kissed her hand.

'Just that?! Did you forget that you've cried on her shoulder two times already?! And that you're spending the night with her on top of a freaking mountain, alone?!' Logic Hiccup screamed at him.

Hiccup's eyes widened at this. 'That's true! Why did I kissed her hand?!'

'That's what you're worried about?!' Logic Hiccup screamed again.

Hiccup ignored that thought. He was fine with spending the night with Elsa as long as they didn't do anything funny. He was sure that the both of them could control themselves. But then Hiccup had kissed her hand!

And that was a big No to Hiccup.

It wasn't intentional. If anything, it was done on reflex, just like when he was with Astrid. Hiccup wasn't the type of man to use his 'charm' on every women that he came across. In fact, he had only use his charm on one woman before and that was Astrid.

Astrid loved his charm even though she would often get flustered by it, giving him the upper hand in their relationship. As such, it was something that he would often do when he was with her to the point that it became automatic.

"Hiccup?" Elsa called out to him, breaking Hiccup from his thoughts.

"Hm?" was his reply.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yea-yeah. I'm fine," Hiccup replied. Elsa wasn't convinced but Hiccup distracted her. "Here! Let me carry the mugs!" Hiccup said and went after the mugs in Elsa's hands.

Elsa smiled. "Thank you. Let's put it in the kitchen,"

Hiccup nodded and Elsa led the way and he pursed his lips as he followed Elsa in silence.

Has he accepted the fact that Astrid was truly gone? Has he accepted the fact that it was time to move on? Hiccup wasn't sure what to feel about that. Some part of him was disgusted as he felt like he was betraying Astrid. Another part of him was rather…happy.

Hiccup shook his head to clear the thoughts out of his mind. He didn't want to think about that at the moment.

**…**

"Anna, Anna!" Kristoff screamed at the Princess. She was surprisingly fast and the fact that she knew the castle like the back of her hand didn't help Kristoff either. By the time Kristoff had catch up with her, she was already in front of the castle's main doors.

Fortunately, for Kristoff, Anna had stopped running. Unfortunately for the both of them, Frederik was guarding the doors. His arms were crossed in front of his chest along with his trademark grumpy face and the door guards crossed their halberd behind him.

For a moment, the both of them glared each other. To Anna's credit, her glare was actually quite scary. The door guards were seriously intimidated by it and would have opened the doors in an instant, if it wasn't for the General. Frederik wasn't intimidated at all.

"Out of my way," Anna said dangerously. It was very rare for the Princess to get this like this.

"Congratulations. You've just proved my point," Frederik said. "I knew that you're going to do this," he sighed and shook his head. "When will you ever learn, Anna?"

"Shut. Up!" Anna said. "I know I'm impulsive! I know that I don't think things through and that I've made a mistake. I know I'm not like Elsa! But I won't stand around while Elsa could be in danger because of my mistake again! I need-"

"You-" Frederik interrupted the Princess. "-are doing just that. You will stay here because I will not allow another repeat from 2 years ago. You've already made a mistake, so let's not make it worse," Frederik pointed at her.

Anna pursed her lips. If she wasn't angry, she might have pouted but that would send the wrong message to her audience. "I can help! I can get the Vikings to-," Anna tried but Frederik cut her off again. It should be a crime to interrupt a royal when she was speaking.

Oh, how Anna would like to punish the General! She wouldn't mind a repeat of what she did to a certain Prince.

"That would be even more dangerous. The best course of action is to send our own men and that doesn't include you or your boyfriend," Frederik said and crossed his arms again.

Anna pursed her lips. The General was right, _again._

"Anna, he's right," Kristoff said and put a hand on her shoulders.

'Thank you, _captain obvious,' _Anna thought angrily. She would have said it but she held back. It wasn't the time to burn another bridge. Soon the Princess and the General went into a glaring contest again.

Frederik then sighed and a surprised Anna brightened, hoping that the General _might_ have a change of heart. The keyword was might.

The General however had a different thought. He knew that even if Anna were to accept his reasoning, it doesn't mean that she has to accept it positively. Anna would most likely wreck herself with guilt, anger and worry if things were left as it is. And she would most likely do questionable things to ease herself. And so Frederik had to turn this around positively.

After all, you reap what you sow.

"Anna," Frederik said softly, surprising everyone present.

"Didn't you believed that she was safe?" Frederik asked. "What's with the change of mind?"

Anna's eyes widened in surprise before she glared at the General. Both of them knew the answer, but she wasn't going to give the General that satisfaction. He already had enough with the scolding that he had given her, however justified it was.

"You're the one that believe she wasn't safe!" Anna countered.

"Yes, that's because it is my job. Even if she is to be in this very castle and surrounded by myself and the people that I trust, I would still think that she's not safe. There's no such thing as being completely safe, after all," Frederik replied and this confused Anna.

"What are you getting at?" Anna said in annoyance.

"You said that you trusted Elsa and the Viking King, yes?" Frederik asked.

"Yes," Anna crossed her arms. She was getting tired with the General's games. Oh well, it wasn't like she had anything better to do right now anyway. The General would most likely had the castle on lockdown so she couldn't go anywhere.

"And do you still trust the both of them right now? Do you still believe that King Hiccup would not hurt Elsa and that the both of them will come down from that mountain…_chaste?_" Frederik asked again and Anna's eyes widened in surprise.

"I…" Anna hesitated. "Well…I used to-to want them not being chaste?" Anna said sheepishly and suddenly the floor was much more interesting to her.

Frederik raised an eyebrow at her.

"I mean-I just want them to kiss, at least!" Anna said defensively before she realized her error. "I mean not the least! Kissing is the farthest they can go!"

Frederik give her an amused smile. "I expected as much. Nothing immoral, huh?"

Anna pouted. Her anger had dissipated somewhat at the sudden change of atmosphere. That and the shame of being caught by General for lying about her intentions about Elsa and the Viking King.

"Are we getting anywhere with this?!" Anna said and stomped her feet in annoyance. She wanted to just walk away and sulk in the kitchens but the General wasn't done and she didn't want to get slapped again.

Frederik chuckled. "You haven't answered my question, Anna,"

Anna looked away. After what Frederik had said, does she still trust them? Trust that Elsa could take care of herself? Trust that Hiccup would not harm her in any way? Her mind wanted to say no, that they could only be trusted until it can be confirmed.

However, her heart wanted to say yes. She believed that Hiccup, no, the Vikings can be trusted because she…trust them. It sounds improbable but that was the best that she could describe right now. And Elsa trust them too! Anna didn't even suggest to Elsa to bring Hiccup to the ice castle!

That had to mean something, right?

Should Anna Listen to her mind and surrender to the logical facts. Or, listen to her heart and…believe? What does she want?

Anna stood straighter and looked the General in the eyes with steel resolve and confidence. "I believed in them before but you shattered it,"

The General looked somewhat disappointed and it confused the Princess. However, Anna pressed on.

"But even if the facts and logic is against it and until I'm proven wrong...I want to believe them," Anna finished and braced herself for another armor-piercing lecture that would surely come.

Only to find the General smiling at her and gave her a slow clap. "Well done,"

'Huh?' Anna and surely the others thought.

Confusion quickly turned into annoyance however. "Are you mocking me?" Anna said in a threatening voice. She hoped it was threatening.

"No, not all," Frederik said and brought his hands in a defensive manner, surprising Anna and the others again. "I'm impressed actually. You stood up to your beliefs even after what I've said,"

"What?" Anna simply said. Of all the things…she did not expect this. "But…my belief is wrong!"

Frederik smiled and brought his hands down. "Not entirely," he shook his head. "It's within your right and duty to have a healthy belief in people but just not too much. It is what you did that's wrong. But you've realized that,"

"I…" the Princess tried to process what had happened. "So you were okay with me trusting Elsa and Hiccup?!"

"Yes," Frederik replied. "It is what you did with that belief that I have issues with. Your trust in Hans wasn't your fault. No one could have guessed his true nature, even me. But what you want to do with Hans that was dangerous," Frederik explained and Anna's shame from remembering the event returned.

"Your trust in the Viking King is fine, wonderful even as it helped diplomatically. But the fact that you left him with Elsa alone was the issue," Frederik continued.

"I…well…" Anna was tongue-tied. She was a bit confused. "So I did a good thing and bad thing?"

Frederik chuckled. "Yes. But don't worry. It is not entirely your fault. Elsa didn't inform us her plan beforehand. So she was partly at fault. And the fact that you returned to the castle was actually a good idea…you know, in case the worst scenario actually happens,"

Anna pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at Frederik. Logically it was sound but it felt wrong with Anna to think that way.

"And I didn't send anyone to Elsa," Frederik simply said.

"WHAT?!" Anna and Kristoff screamed. Heck, the door guards would have screamed too if they didn't have the discipline.

"Why?! After all that talk about doing the right thing and now, you're the one that's doing the wrong thing!" Kristoff said.

"It is because I trust them," Frederik simply replied and it was silent for a moment.

"You're not making any sense," Kristoff said.

"I know," the General grinned and Kristoff threw his hands to the air in exasperation. "I wouldn't have let Anna ride the dragons at the same time as Elsa if I didn't trust the Vikings,"

"Then what's with the shit you just gave us?" Kristoff asked.

The General glared at Kristoff to remind him of respect. "Sorry," Kristoff apologized and Frederik turned to Anna again.

"It was the perfect opportunity for a lesson," Frederik said. Anna and Kristoff gaped.

"A lesson?!" Anna said angrily. All those emotions that she went through, was just for a lesson?

"A well needed lesson, no?" Frederik asked.

In that instant, Anna's anger dissipated and was replaced with shame. "Ye-yes," Anna replied meekly when she realized Frederik was right. A well needed lesson it was.

Frederik sighed. "I didn't have the opportunity to lecture you back then without Elsa taking your side. She might agree with me or she might not because of the positive outcome. That and you both were trying to get to know with each other again,"

"Regardless," Frederik continued. "I was partly responsible as well. I was…too lenient and as such, it was unfair for me to pin all the blame to you after the storm has passed. Forgive me,"

The General then bowed in front of the Princess.

"Uh…I" Anna did not know what to say. It was too much for her to handle at the moment. First it was that, now it was this! First it was her fault, then it wasn't?

But then she understood. Everything wasn't black and white. Oh, how simpler the world would be then. But the truth was that it wasn't. The General, her _uncle, _was right. Anna did accomplished some good deeds, but she made mistakes as well. Mistakes that could be costly. And if her uncle didn't do what he did, she might still be _ignorant _and careless.

Deep down, she knew that even if her uncle had lectured her two years ago, it wasn't going to leave much of an impact to her because of the positive outcome.

And yet, her uncle also admitted that he made a mistake as well. It would be so easy for him to pin all the blame to her, her sister and by that extension, their parents as well. She knew that her parents were extremely lenient to her. Her parent's leniency was a trade or rather compensation for what happened to her…for separating her from Elsa.

It would be so easy for her uncle to make himself _righteous, _to paint him as better than Anna. But he didn't. He admitted that he made a mistake just as Anna. It shows that he was just _human. _

Before this, Anna would have accepted that her uncle was right, hate him a little bit and would have tolerate his existence with a grudging respect. But now, she respected him and he was growing on her.

After all, he did left Elsa and Hiccup alone.

"Okay, I forgive you," Anna said.

Frederik straightened himself again and smiled at Anna. "Thank you," he said.

Anna however, had a serious look on her face. "I believe you owe Kristoff an apology as well,"

Frederik laughed like it was the funniest thing on earth. Kristoff crossed his arms and glared at the General while Anna pouted before she kicked the General on his shin. The General's laughter didn't stopped completely but he still showed signs of pain. However, he might as well haven't been kicked at all.

"No," he simply said. "He has yet to prove me wrong," Frederik smiled and rubbed her head.

"Hmph!" Anna slapped the General's head away with in annoyance and anger, again. It wasn't as bad as before however.

Frederik smirked and stepped aside. The door guards also withdrew their halberds, allowing passage again. "Didn't you promise dinner with the Vikings? It will reflect badly on us if you were to cancel it,"

Anna's eyes widened. She had forgotten about that. "I know that!" Anna said.

"Sure," Frederik said and walked away.

"Ass," Anna breathed.

"Well…that was quite the emotional ride," Kristoff commented.

Anna released a long sigh. "Tell me about it,"

**…**

Before Hiccup, Elsa had heard from some of her suitors that they can cook. She didn't doubt them since if she can cook, then so can they. However, she never heard or seen them wash dirty dishes.

The moment they entered the kitchen and noticed the aftermath of their cooking session and dinner, Hiccup had offered to wash them all. She smiled a small smile and commented that Hiccup would make a wonderful husband.

To which he grinned and responded with an "Obviously,"

Elsa could only shook her head. Nevertheless, she refused to let Hiccup do all the work when he had cook most of the meal. That and it would take too long for one person to finish. And so, the two monarchs worked together to handle a common foe; dirty dishes.

It was quiet for a moment and Elsa was sure that Hiccup might ask about her story. Honestly, she didn't want to do it over dirty dishes. So she instantly racked her brain for a topic that could serve as a temporary distraction and fired away.

"You know, Varin was quite amazing to come up with that plan of his," Elsa said. "And to think that he did it all alone,"

Suddenly, Hiccup froze and Elsa noticed it. In retrospect, it was a rather sensitive question, but she thought that Hiccup had gotten over it. It would be a shame if Varin would forever be a sore subject.

"I'm sorry, I understand if-" Elsa tried but Hiccup cut her off.

"No-no, I just remembered something, that's all," Hiccup said with a small smile. Elsa could have sworn that the smile was forced.

"I see," Elsa said hoping that Hiccup would reveal his thought without coaxing.

"So, when are we going to tell your story next?" Hiccup asked.

'So much for that,' Elsa thought.

"Definitely not when we're doing dishes," she replied and Hiccup chuckled. "After we're finished here. Let's do it in the main hall,"

"Sure," Hiccup simply replied before he asked another question. "Have you ever met or heard anyone with powers before?"

'Does the trolls count as anyone?' Elsa pondered.

"Not before you told me about Varin," Elsa answered. Hiccup seemed secretive about something so it was only fair that she held back some of her own.

"I see. Don't you find it weird though? I mean, you and Varin couldn't be the only people with powers, right?" he asked.

Elsa pursed her lips. "The thought have crossed my mind. I would be extremely naïve to think that I'm the only one with powers in the world. Surely there would be others and I thought that maybe they would come to me when they heard of me,"

"But nothing so far?" Hiccup continued for her.

Elsa nodded. "Maybe they were wary of me. I wouldn't blame them. I would be wary of myself and if I were them and I would think that it would be a trap," she said in a rather sad tone as she attacked the dishes.

"You want to meet them, don't you?" Hiccup asked and Elsa turned to look at him and nodded.

"It's just…I feel lonely, in a different way I mean. It's true I have a lot more people around me now but…" Elsa tried.

"They can't truly empathize with you right?" he finished for her and Elsa nodded guiltily and turned her attention to the dishes again. The truth was that, she didn't think that the people could truly understand her until they were in her shoes, so to speak. Even Anna and her parents couldn't truly understand her.

At best, their affection was sympathy. It was like trying to understand how it feels to be a flame, or in Elsa's case, ice and snow.

"I understand," Hiccup said. "I mean, I can't be you literally but I understand that type of loneliness. It was like how I was with Varin. Even though our friendship was short, it feels like I've known him longer than I've known any of my Viking friends,"

"We just clicked, you know? We understand each other easily. It was like we shared the same mind or something," he chuckled.

Elsa smiled sadly. "Yes…" she said. She wanted that, someone that she could talk with about their powers. It was like being in a club that others couldn't join. A book club for example. She was sure Anna wouldn't want to join that!

Hiccup noticed that Elsa's mood still hasn't changed for the better, so he flicked droplets of water at her.

"Hey!" Elsa protested and turned her head to him.

Only to find a finger poking her nose. The sudden contact made her squeak and Hiccup roared with laughter. She pouted for a moment before she smiled and countered with a splash of water. And soon it became a water splashing game between the two.

"Alright, alright, it's all fun and games until we got soap into our eyes and mouth," Elsa said and the both of them stopped their shenanigans. The both of them then stared at each other with wide smiles before Hiccup shrugged.

"Well, I want to check on Toothless. Can you handle the rest of the dishes?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.

"Sure," she replied.

"Thanks," Hiccup said and exited the kitchen. Once outside, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Hiccup then turned around to make sure that Elsa wasn't behind him before began walking back towards where Toothless was. On the way there, he took out Varin's journal and flipped it open to a marked page.

_**-I always thought that Gareth was crazy, I just don't know how much. Why do I say this? Well, apparently he thought that I was 'special' and invited me to join a "worldwide secret organization". Sounds like a cult, if you ask me. Next thing I know, said cult would use me as a sacrifice to summon their god or something.**_

_**I was skeptical but he said that if I want to truly make a difference, this was the way. Annoying fuck. But I have nothing to lose anyway, so why not?-**_

The truth was that, Varin did not come up with his plan alone. He had help. It was just that Hiccup were so preoccupied with himself that he had forgotten about that. It was when Elsa had mentioned it that the memory came back to him.

_**-Apparently the organization's name is Alter-fate. Seriously? What an underwhelming and stupid name. I'm embarrassed to join already!**_

_**Okay, Gareth told me that Alter-fate members wear masks and the top tiers, or the 'Council' members even wear robes! Now it looked like a cult. Gareth was one of the top dogs so he got his own mask and robes. I got a mask to wear as well. Not a fan, but a necessity for secrecy and all that poop.**_

_**And since everyone was wearing masks around each other, they don't use their real names as well. Instead the top members use Greek alphabets followed by a number to denote rank. For example, Gareth was the lead representative for the East India Company, so he was Epsilon 0. Those under him will be Epsilon 1 and so on. **_

_**Well at least they got it right with the codenames. Oh and each member have a custom-made pocket watch for identification outside of the organization. It sounded stupid as it beats the purpose of secret identities in the first place. But then I heard that those pocket watches have a secret feature or something to disguise itself from normal pocket watch. Eh, whatever. Pocket watches ain't cheap so if they want to make me a little bit rich, I don't mind. **_

_**Going to enter their headquarters soon. Not sure when I can update.- **_

Hiccup chuckled. Varin's journal, for most part was entertaining to read. It was his way of keeping his sanity intact over the years.

_**-What the fuck? Okay, I seriously underestimated Alter-fate. They're not a cult but something more dangerous. Why? Apparently, the Council members were made up of influential individuals from powerful countries and organizations! There was a Spanish general, Dutch spymaster, British admiral and many more. Gareth wasn't kidding when he said that Alter-fate was worldwide. **_

_**Most of these people's countries were not on speaking terms with each other. So to see these people, here, collaborating…it was not a good sign. **_

_**Fortunately, they do not have someone from the Viking Archipelago yet. And apparently, it would be me. In that instant, I was made a Council member. **__**Shit.-**_

Back then, reading that entry was another reason why he was paranoid of the outside world. Hiccup then reached the observatory tower again and noticed Toothless still in the same spot where they had left him. He smiled and sat down near his friend to continue reading the journal. Varin's tone became more serious from that entry, reminding him the gravity of the situation.

_**-And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Their leader, Omega's objective was to help the Council members achieve theirs, no matter how ambitious it could be. That wasn't right. It was like a King that allowed his people to do whatever they wanted. It was foolish. If that were to happen, most people would ask for the King's throne!**_

_**And because of that, Alter-fate should have destroyed itself because of the selfish few. But they didn't. In fact, they looked like they were all working towards a collective objective rather than their own. How could this happen?**_

_**It was then I realized that these people were not driven by simple greed. They have no need nor want anything for personal gain. They wanted…to change. I asked them, "Change what?"**_

"_**Fate," a general replied.**_

"_**Yours?" I asked again.**_

"_**Others,"**_

_**I didn't understand what he meant. In fact, I would have laughed and claimed that he was crazy. You can't change fate! The fate of the Viking gods were decided long before Ragnarok! If the gods couldn't change theirs, so how can we mortals change ours?**_

_**But humans will survive Ragnarok and their fate were not set in stone. **_

_**And what was more, I found out that everyone was reluctant, afraid even to ask for Omega's help. Asking for his help was when you have no other options left. I was confused. Why? Apparently, they likened it to making a deal with the devil. **_

_**When I met Omega, there was something strange about him... I'm not sure what it was. Anyway, he told me that I'm not to serve him, he serve me. He could help me achieve my dream. However, he told me that he will only give me the means to an end. I would have to reach that end myself. **_

_**It doesn't sound so bad actually. He doesn't seemed like he want to swindle me or something. Still, since I didn't have any dreams, I didn't ask him anything.-**_

Hiccup then turned to another marked page.

_**-Dammit! I shouldn't have opened my big mouth! Now I've planted the idea that it was his responsibility to improve the lives of all Vikings! And how would he do that? By becoming their king! I told him that it won't be easy! The Vikings won't accept it! There will be war and he could die! Did he care? No!**_

_**And he asked me to stay by his side and help him?! No, no, NO! That was how the others died! I told him I was cursed but he refused to listen! Dammit, dammit! Why do you have to be so fucking idiotic and stubborn?!**_

_**And now, Hiccup will die because of me…with or without my help. Dammit, dammit…not another one. I don't want that fate for him! I want…to change…**_

_**I think I understand now what that general meant when he said that he wanted to change the fate of others. I think I know what to do.-**_

Hiccup smiled sadly. He was the one that pushed Varin so far and he didn't even know. Still, with heavy heart, he continued. Usually, he would be wrecked with guilt right now. But he didn't.

_**-I was right about Omega. There was something wrong about him! The first time I met him, he was an adult man. Now, he was a woman?! How? Was Omega a changeling? Can he or it shape shift?! I asked him that and he simply said that he could 'borrow' people's body and wear them like clothes.**_

_**What. I couldn't believe it but for some reason I can tell that the woman was indeed the same Omega. I asked him how he could do such things and he said that he has a special power, the power of Hearts. **_

_**It sounded stupid and weak. What kind of power was 'Heart' anyway? If given a choice, I think most people would choose other powers like fire, wind, ice or just about anything else. But then you realized just what 'Heart' can do. Then you'd wish that it had never existed at all. **_

_**Omega could instantly understand people's hearts without you telling him. He could understand people's behavior, emotions, secrets, desires and many more. With that knowledge, he could manipulate you like a puppet on a string.**_

_**And that was how Omega understood what I wanted and he said that he has already prepared a 'path' for me. He gave me a list of Vikings that I need to kill to ensure that not only Hiccup would survive the war, but also make his plan prosper. He told me that these Vikings would become poison to him in the future and need to be removed. He told me that if left to Hiccup, he probably would not kill these Vikings until it was too late. And that should I remain by his side, he would forbade me from killing them as well.**_

_**How did he know about these Vikings? But that wasn't all. He said that these Vikings were just part of the problem. The entire Viking people will be stubborn to their old ways and would refuse Hiccup even if he became their King. He said that to create a new world, the old one has to be destroyed first... **_

_**And so, he said that the only way to do it, was for me to become his enemy. I would insert myself into the enemy ranks and sow chaos among them! **_

…_**I couldn't accept it at first. I couldn't accept that it was the only path for me. Omega told me that I could choose my own path. I could fight beside Hiccup, go along with Omega's plan or just…walk away.**_

_**Then I realized that my hand was already bloodied. I was already tainted, so why stop now? I…better me than Hiccup. His battlefield and mine was different after all. And so I decided that I will carve a path of corpses…so that Hiccup wouldn't have to. **_

_**Besides, I'm a Viking and I hate them. So it would be fitting that I will be the one that will destroy them. Hiccup would just have to pick up the pieces after me. **_

_**Omega smiled and wished me luck. Before I go, he offered to answer my question. So I asked what he was. He said, 'a human with a unique skill'. I scoffed and he smiled. I asked what his real name was. Surprisingly, he told me his real name along with his…title of power? Apparently, that was the strength of his power. **_

_**So what was the name of this...entity, this 'human'? Well, his name is**__** Hridayesh, The Lord of Hearts.-**_

Knowing that someone like Hridayesh existed was enough to make Hiccup afraid back then. After all, when one could posses bodies with impunity and instantly know your deepest secrets, anyone would be afraid. That power, although it might not be as powerful as controlling ice and snow, it was a lot more useful. Hiccup shook his head as he continued to the final marked page.

_**-I've played my part Hiccup! I played the Soldier! Now it's your turn to play the King! I built you up, so don't you let me down!-**_

Hiccup smiled as he closed the journal. He has read those journal entries many times before and it only served to increase his guilt. That was because he was too caught up with his own emotions that he viewed it the wrong way. However, now that he was clear of his demons, those same entries looked different. He had finally read it the way that Varin had wanted it.

Hiccup sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The Vikings might have dragons and Arendelle might have their Snow Queen. But the world has the Lord of Hearts. He was afraid back then. Now, he wasn't afraid anymore. If he had the chance to meet this Hridayesh, he would give him a piece of his mind.

Hiccup then stored the journal away and took out Varin's pocket watch and opened it. The clockwork mechanism of the watch was visible from its face. However, there were some gears that have golden and black stripes on them. Hiccup then pulled on the watch's only dial and a 'click' sound was heard. He turned the dial around and a silver clock hand emerged from underneath the hour hand.

He then turned the dial left and right, directing the silver hand through sequences that only a few people would know. Then, another click was heard and the pocket watch's clockwork gears turned on its own towards different directions. Strangely enough, the clock continued to function as normal even though most of its gears were moving in different directions. A few seconds later, the colored stripes lined with each other to form a set of characters among the gears.

The first was a golden A and dash followed by a black f, forming an _A-f_. It was Alter-fate's symbol. The second was a number followed by a symbol and another number. It was 1Ψ0. The trident was the Greek alphabet of Psi and number 0 was Varin's rank. Together, they form his codename. And the number 1 meant that he was the first to hold that position.

"_-each member have a custom-made pocket watch for identification outside of the organization."_

Hiccup remembered that particular entry and it him reminded him of something. Elsa has a pocket watch as well.

'Could it be?' Hiccup thought as he stared at the pocket watch. Suddenly, Elsa emerged from the door and stepped into his field of vision.

"Hiccup?" Elsa asked and Hiccup turned his gaze towards her. "I'm ready to tell my story," she said with a smile.

Hiccup stared at her for a moment with Varin's pocket still in his vision. It was as if Hiccup was comparing the two and hoped that the truth would reveal themselves. However, Elsa only gave him a curious look.

'Right. Like that would happen. Oh well, it doesn't matter for the moment,' Hiccup thought and pushed down on the dial. In less than a second, the pocket watch concealed its secret once again. He then stored the watch away before getting up with a smile.

"Alright, let's go!" Hiccup said.

**…**

"Sir, the Viking representatives has arrived," a soldier told the General.

"Good," he nodded. "Keep an eye on them as usual," Frederik said and walked away from the soldier. He had been waiting in the shadows to keep an eye on the Princess for the past half hour. It wasn't needed, as he was sure that Anna would do as he planned and that was not to run to her sister again. But just because he was sure doesn't make it absolute. Now that Anna was doing as he predicted, time to handle another matter.

Frederik arrived in front of the guest room and waited for a moment. He took a deep breath and opened the doors before walking in. Once inside, he saw two more important members of Arendelle; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugo Johannes and Minister of Finance, Finn Gerhad.

"Ah, good to finally have you here!" Finn said. He was sitting on a couch and enjoying a cup of tea. Hugo was seated on the opposite couch while twiddling his thumbs.

The General scanned the room before closing the doors. "Is he here?"

The two ministers shook their head with a grim face. Frederik sighed and closed the doors.

"Tea?" Finn offered.

Frederik waved his hand to refuse and walked towards the windows. Finn shrugged before muttering that it was a good tea.

"You seemed nervous, Hugo," Frederik asked.

Hugo sighed before answering. "Of course I am. I'm in a conspiracy against the throne after all," he then raised a hand, even though the General couldn't see it. "I know, I know. It is for Arendelle. I've already accepted that but it's not like every day I get to do this after all,"

"Tell me about it. And the knowledge that the plan came from _him _certainly didn't make it more assuring," Finn said.

Hugo nodded. "And that's the thing. The plan is entirely _his_ work and we're following it completely. And even then, things are going differently! How can we be sure that the plan will stay intact?"

Fin nodded. "_He_ said that that they will ride the dragons, but not about Elsa spending the night alone with the Viking King! It seems to me that _he's_ playing with us!"

"A large part of _his_ plan is based on human behavior and personality, which can be unpredictable. He predicted the flight because he understand how Anna would behave. About Elsa…well, we couldn't have expected that either. If I told you that King Hiccup insisted on going to the castle and stay there, do you think Elsa would approve of that?" Frederik turned his head to his accomplice.

Hugo sighed. "If you told me before tonight, I would certainly say that you're drunk,"

"But King Hiccup could have just force her," Finn added.

"Perhaps. But if it were me, even if I have a dragon, I'm not stupid enough to force the Snow Queen against her will in the air or even on the ground. I like to think that King Hiccup has the same line of thinking," Frederik shrugged. "Still, the change in plan is rather minor so far and hasn't derailed the whole plan. If anything, it turned out to be better,"

"Ah, right. Anna," Finn said and Frederik nodded.

"Trust me, I don't like it either. I would like it if the plan doesn't rely heavily on human behavior, but the fact is that we still need _his _help to make this work," Frederik continued.

Hugo and Finn could only sigh.

Suddenly, a knock could be heard from the door. Before any of the occupants could answer, the door opened and a young maid's head peered inside.

"I brought some refreshments!" she said. Finn looked angry and was about to scold her for opening the door without permission before Frederik interrupted him.

"Come in, Omega," Frederik said. Hugo and Finn suddenly went wide eyed before they instantly stood up.

She giggled before she went inside with a tray in hand and closed the door behind him. "Oh you two, no need to get up for me!" Omega said and put the tray on the table and opened the cover, revealing an assortment of snacks. "Tada! Help yourself!"

"Thank-thank you," Finn said nervously but none of the men in the room made any movement for the snacks.

"You're welcome," Omega bowed curtly before taking a pastry and walked towards where Frederik was. Once she was far enough, Hugo and Finn released a breath they had been holding since she came in.

The two men couldn't get used to Omega's presence. How could they? The last time they met Omega, he was a _teenage boy _and now he was a woman. If you were in the presence of someone that could change bodies at a whim, you would be wary as well. To them, Omega was an unnatural and _ancient _entity. He was something that they didn't _understand _and should be _feared._

And then there was his personality. For someone who was immensely powerful, he was rather…subservient.

"That was quite amazing what you did there Frederik!" Omega complimented. "Sure, what Elsa did was unexpected, but you realized that it gave you a good opportunity to act on Anna, huh?"

"Of course, that wasn't all! Anna could have taken it _badly,"_ Omega said and took a bite of the pastry. "You could have _crushed _her and even though you were right, it would make you look _evil," _Omega said the last word with glee. "And in the future, she would have a hard time trusting you,"

"But you knew that she's a tough girl! You knew that she wouldn't just sit around while thinking that her sister could be in danger, especially because of her!" Omega continued. "And so, you took that opportunity to put more sense into her and repair your image as well as her trust in you!"

"I must say, I'm impressed!" Omega finished and she licked her fingers.

Frederik sighed. "I'm sure you've met people more impressive than I. And you're quite chipper tonight,"

Omega grinned. "I can't help it. Lily was gossiping with the other maids and they were snacking on sweet stuff," Omega said, referring to the body he was currently inhabiting.

Frederik raised an eyebrow at this. "Don't worry, it was harmless gossip," Omega waved her hand at him.

"I'm more surprised that you're not at the ice castle," Frederik asked.

Omega shook her head. "Hey, when it comes to privacy, even I know where to draw the line,"

Frederik could have laughed at that statement.

"Alright, it's already late. Lily needs her sleep, so I have to go now. See you guys later!" Omega said. She waved at the men before exiting the room.

As soon as Omega had left, Hugo and Finn released a sigh of relief. Frederik couldn't blame them. Omega was the closest thing to the devil they had known. It wasn't easy dealing with that. Frederik however, didn't care if he has to deal with the actual devil himself if it allowed him to alter Arendelle's fate.

After all, it was his duty.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Alright! See you guys next chapter!

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	21. Chapter 20: Her Story

**Author's Note: **Hello readers! And so the story went to our couple again! And as you can expect, it was Elsa's turn to tell her story. Now, please do not skip this chapter. Don't worry, it wasn't a total recap of the Frozen storyline as it was told from Elsa's point of view, not Anna's. It also has a lot of information about other stuff.

**Elsa101:** Yes, I will write more. So no worries. And you do not have to use 'no offence' all the time. I'm not offended, so no offence, k?

**Yoshi-Strange:** Muahaha! I'm glad that you're confused about him! That's what I'm aiming for! I don't want a cookie cutter villain that you'll hate straight away (although a lot already hated him), I want a villain that made you doubt about his villainess! Trust me, you'll be confused by him a lot in the future. Although his definite status will take a looooong time to clear.

**Mandalore Requiem:** Ohoho! Now think, if such an intelligent person had to resort to being used by Omega, what does that mean? Dun dun duuun.

Kuro-Sacchi: Thanks for the compliment! Although I like to think myself as one, I don't think I can claim that title until I've proven it with a, what I would like to say, the definitive proof. Unfortunately that proof is very far away.

Alright, so on with the story!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20 – Her Story<br>**

"So! Finally I get to hear about your life story!" Hiccup asked excitedly with a grin. He then rubbed his hands in a villainous sort of way.

Elsa pursed her lips at the sight but at the inside, she felt a bit nervous. Aside from Anna, she had never told anyone about her past. Mostly because they didn't ask. It wasn't that they didn't care, most of them like Kai, Gerda and Frederik already knew anyway. People that doesn't like Kristoff knew it from other sources. They didn't ask because they didn't want to make her relieve her somewhat painful past.

They want her to move on to the future and didn't want her to get stuck in the past. She understood.

She was also a bit disappointed. Elsa wasn't that fragile. It wasn't like she was going conjure Eternal Winters every time someone ask her about her past.

So to have a chance to tell her past to someone was a refreshing experience.

"Alright, let's start," Elsa said and looked around the grand hall for a moment and Hiccup looked confused at this. Elsa then smiled as she conjured a pair of single seat plush chairs from ice and snow. She then took a seat on one of them.

Hiccup didn't need an invitation and sat on the remaining chair. The both of them were silent for a moment before Hiccup turned to look at her. "Okay, I know this is obvious since the chair is made from ice and snow and all but uh…it's _cold,"_

Elsa giggled and waved her hand at Hiccup's chair. Her magic then made the snow lose its cold, causing Hiccup to sigh. "That's _heavenly. _I don't want to get up from this chair, ever," he drawled and Elsa giggled again.

"I'm glad to see that you are comfortable. So let's get to my story, shall we?" Elsa said and Hiccup perked up at this.

"Fire away!" he said and Elsa giggled.

"To start, the origin of my powers were never known," Elsa started. "When I was born, my hair was mostly brown," Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this, as if to say, 'mostly?'. "I have a streak of white hair,"

"I see, so I guess that's an indication of your powers then?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.

"Yes, although my parents didn't realize it at the time. However, they were worried by it, thinking that I was stricken with a disease," Elsa continued and Hiccup looked serious at the mention of the disease. "The doctors didn't know what caused it but since I was healthy, they couldn't do anything but to observe my condition,"

"Over the years, the white streak continue to grow and replace my brown hair. It was then that my father thought that what caused it might be magical in nature. And so he began to study about it with hopes that he could find what caused it and…its cure," Elsa said.

"Did he succeed?" Hiccup asked.

"Sort of. He found a legend about the founders of Arendelle. The legend says that the first King came from the icy north and had the power over winter himself," Elsa explained. At this, Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"North? Then that means he's a Viking?" Hiccup asked and Elsa nodded.

"Yes, and that means the Arendellians, especially the Royal Family have Viking blood in our veins. Although it is not as strong as yours, obviously," Elsa stated and Hiccup's eyes widened at this. He then pointed a finger at her and then to him, and then to her again.

"Yes, we have something in common after all," Elsa giggled at his response.

"Wow, really? But you guys hardly look like a Viking!" Hiccup stated and Elsa nodded.

"That is true. Our culture still have Viking elements but only in small amounts as large parts of it were replaced by newer and different cultures," Elsa explained and Hiccup frowned as he processed the information. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers.

"I see! So let me get this straight," Hiccup started. "So your ancestor and mine came from the same place. But your ancestor decided to travel south and found Arendelle. Meanwhile, our ancestor decided to stay!"

Elsa smiled. "That is correct,"

"And because the people of different cultures rarely went to the Viking Archipelago and we rarely get outside, our culture remained mostly the same," Hiccup stated.

"And my ancestors encountered other civilizations, resulting in a mix of culture and unfortunately, a heavy dilution of the Viking ways," Elsa explained.

In Arendelle, the native language was the North Germanic language. It was also known as Nordic language as it was influenced by the Old Norse language used by the Vikings. It was the reason why the people of Arendelle were able to understand the Vikings easily.

Hiccup chuckled. "So that's why your people reacted like they've never seen us before! We must be like, cavemen to them!"

Elsa smiled. "That and Vikings have a bad reputation. Although, that is mostly my ancestors' fault,"

"Eh?" Hiccup simply said.

Elsa giggled. "My ancestors might not have dragons, but they are still Vikings. What do you think should happen if your ancestors decided to explore outside of the Viking Archipelago?"

Hiccup rubbed his chin. "You know, standard Viking stuff at that time such as…pillaging and stuff…oh,"

Elsa nodded. "Yes, and my ancestors were very good at that too. They terrorized much of Britain's land, even attacking their sacred abbeys. And such, the Britains painted them as bloodthirsty, violent barbarians. Of course, that ended when most of the Vikings were converted to Christianity,"

Hiccup looked very impressed at this. "Wow. That is awesome. It made our ancestors look bad in comparison,"

Elsa pursed her lips before she spoke. "Oh hush! Your ancestors managed to achieve wonderful feats as well,"

"Yeah, by being too stubborn to leave," Hiccup said nonchalantly. "Still, I love to to check your history books later on. And we're also getting sidetracked by our awesome ancestors,"

Elsa smiled and she nodded. "Right, so where was I? Ah yes, the origin of my magic," Elsa continued. "My father believed in the legend and he thought that I must have inherited it,"

"If that's true, then that means winter magic is quite common in the royal family," Hiccup said.

"Perhaps," Elsa answered and Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "It seems that apart from the legend of the First King and myself, there was no record of any other person with magic,"

Hiccup pondered at this. "Either the winter magic skipped _a lot _of generations or…it just wasn't recorded," he stated.

Elsa nodded. "The latter is more likely. It could be that after my ancestors converted to Christianity, they have to keep it hidden or risk persecution or worse," she said and Hiccup's gaze hardened. He looked furious, but it wasn't directed at her. Even so, she didn't like to see it and so she continued with her story.

"By the time I was 3, my hair turned completely white and I could use my magic," Elsa said and let out a flurry of snow dance in her palm. "And my sister was born in the same year as well,"

She smiled. "I used my magic to entertain her ever since she was a baby," Elsa remembered the moment. A gurgling baby trying to reach the snow dancing in the air. A snowflake landed on the baby's nose and she giggled happily.

"At that time, I wasn't scared of my powers and my father didn't prohibit me from using it, only that I limit it. Anna however, loved my powers and would try to get me to use it every chance she got," Elsa continued. "She was and is still good at that. She would ask me, 'Do you want to build a snowman?' and well, it's hard for me to resist her after that,"

Hiccup remembered his snowman building session he had with Elsa. 'No wonder,' he thought.

"Everything was fine until I was 8. Anna was only 5 at that time. That one night, she couldn't sleep and she asked me to play with her. Of course, we ended up playing with my powers," Elsa's expression turned sad. "I created snow pillars for Anna to jump on. However, I created the subsequent pillars high and higher and Anna was moving too fast and…"

Hiccup was grateful that their chairs weren't so far apart. He then reached to touch her hand and Elsa smiled gratefully for the support.

"I slipped on the slippery floor," Elsa said and Hiccup gave her a skeptical look. "I didn't master that ability at that time," Hiccup nodded and she continued. "Anna jumped without a pillar and she was so high up! In my panic, I send a bolt of magic that hit her head,"

Elsa looked down at this and Hiccup squeezed her hand. "The resulting momentum send her towards a snow mound and save her from the fall but not from my magic. A part of her hair turned white and she started to turn cold…"

Elsa seemed hesitant to continue but Hiccup pressed on. "What happened next?"

"My parents realized what happened and they took us to meet…" suddenly Elsa realized something. "…the trolls,"

"…"

"…"

"What?" Hiccup simply said.

Elsa knew what Hiccup probably wanted to ask next so she took the initiative first. "The trolls…they're made from stone," she then conjured an ice statue of the troll in their inactive state at first. Then a swish of her hand and the ice statue changed to show the true form of a troll.

Hiccup's mouth was gaping wide open for a moment before he suddenly laughed. "I knew it! I've met them before in Berk!"

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "You have?"

"Yes! Although they never showed their true selves to me. When I was little, I found strange boulders that have tracks behind them. It was as if somebody pushed them or they moved on their own. I even found a large number of them in a clearing and their position always change every time I checked on them!" Hiccup explained.

"I see," Elsa said. That was good news. The trolls had told them that they were more of them outside of Arendelle but they didn't know where. Grandpabbie and the others would be thrilled knowing about this.

"No wonder I never found them! I never thought that the trolls could be rocks!" Hiccup shook his head.

Elsa smiled. "So, back to my story," she said and Hiccup turned his attention to her again. "The leader of the trolls named Pabbie or Grandpabbie as everyone called him has the ability to remove the magic from Anna's head, but he also has to remove her memories about my magic,"

Hiccup gave her a confused look. "Why?"

"As a precaution," Elsa said. "He was afraid that the same thing might happen again. He warned me that my powers will only grow and I need to control it. He also told me that fear will be my greatest enemy,"

"Unfortunately, even though he has a point, the way he did it was wrong," Elsa stated and Hiccup gave her a disbelieving look. After all, Elsa had just claimed that a magical and most likely ancient being was wrong.

"That was because, before the incident, I didn't fear my powers at all and I have near perfect control. But after the incident and Grandpabbie's warning, I grew to fear it, making me lose control," Elsa explained and Hiccup nodded.

"That's…true," Hiccup said and Elsa sighed.

"Truth to be told, it wasn't entirely his fault," Elsa continued. "At that time, he thought that I wasn't going to be afraid of my powers and the only fear that I have to be afraid of was from other people," Elsa continued.

Elsa and Anna had confronted Grandpabbie about the matter and that was his answer. "He told me that even if I wasn't afraid of my powers, even if I had it under perfect control, it won't matter if people were to be afraid of me. To him, the greatest fear comes from the others and not myself,"

"That logic has its merit," Hiccup said. He was no stranger to other people's fears. And it was even more dangerous as it can amplify your own fear. "But I had a feeling that it caused you more harm than good,"

"That's true," Elsa nodded. "Grandpabbie was a magical being to begin with and so he didn't fear magic. Magic to him was as natural as nature. It would be incomprehensible for him to fear it. What he was afraid of was things or beings that tend to defy nature, namely us,"

Hiccup nodded in understanding. "I understand why they choose to hid from humans,"

"That's right. He was afraid of what the people would do once they know I have powers. My parents had that fear as well. It wasn't unjustified, truth be told," Elsa said and she looked down.

It hurt at first, to know that such extreme measures were prepared by the man that she trusted the most. It hurt to know that her loved ones feared her…or that was she thought at first.

After the Great Thaw, she had confronted Frederik about the special chains prepared for her.

"_It was because they loved you," Frederik said._

"_And that made it alright?!" Elsa almost screamed and frost began to creep on the floor from her feet._

"_Of course not. But it was either that or killing you," Frederik simply replied and Elsa's eyes widened._

"_What?" she said in disbelieve. _

_Frederik turned away from her to look at her parents' portrait. "You're not the first, Elsa. Back then before there was Arendelle, your power was a symbol of divine gift, power and authority. Your ancestors wield them proudly and their people didn't fear it. Nowadays however, it was a symbol of evil, of sorcery and the unnatural,"_

"_There were many more before you Elsa. The difference was they didn't make it into the history books," he said and Elsa's eyes widened again as she realized the truth. _

"_No…that's…" Elsa tried. _

"_Anything could had happen to them. Either they were forced to hide their powers, exiled or killed," Frederik continued. "They took a great risk in loving you Elsa. And believe me, not a single day that your parents wished that they didn't have to use those chains,"_

"_I…I," _

"_Yes, they were afraid. But they're not afraid of you. They're afraid for you. Afraid that should you lose control, they have to do things that a parent should never have to do. Afraid that they have to choose between the responsibility of a leader or a parent," Frederik said. _

"_Yes, they were afraid. But that's only because they loved you," he finished. _

Elsa was broken out of her thoughts by Hiccup who squeezed her hand. A single tear escaped her and she wiped it away with a smile. "They were afraid for me,"

Hiccup gave her a soft smile. "And because of that, they wanted me to fully control my powers first. So they isolated me from the world by closing the gates, reducing the staff and didn't allow me to see Anna,"

"I'm guessing it didn't work as well as they hoped?" Hiccup asked and Elsa sighed.

"No. I didn't make any progress in controlling my powers and they were growing stronger. My father implement a method of control. I have to wear gloves since I tend to freeze everything I touch," Elsa said and Hiccup looked at their joined hands.

"Well, if my hands were to freeze with yours, I'd say it would be worth it," Hiccup grinned. This made the Snow Queen blush. They didn't remove their hands however.

'Hopeless romantic,' Elsa thought.

"An-anyway," she continued. "I also have to conceal it, not to feel it and don't let it show,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this. "To conceal and not to let it show is doable, but not to feel? That's…impossible,"

"My father didn't mean not to feel any emotions, but rather, not to feel my powers. He guessed that perhaps if I can ignore it and act like it doesn't exist, it would just…go away," Elsa explained.

Hiccup scratched his head. "That's like asking to treat like your legs doesn't exist," he said and pointed to his prosthetic leg. "Sure, I lost one, but I still remember the need for two legs,"

Elsa giggled. "That's true. Anyway, my isolation years was a nightmare for Anna and me, "Elsa said.

"Anna didn't remember I had magic and so she didn't remember that I hurt her. After that night, I tried my best to avoid her without telling her the truth. Can you imagine being in her shoes at that time? To suddenly have someone that's close to you to avoid you like a plague and you didn't even know why or what you did wrong to deserve it," Elsa stated and Hiccup nodded.

"I can imagine," Hiccup nodded.

"But Anna, bless her. She wasn't the type of person to give up or break easily. Every day, for 10 years she would knock on my doors to try and get me out of my room," Elsa said and Hiccup whistled.

"10 years? Wow, that is impressive," he said and Elsa nodded.

"It is. Anyway, when I was 18 and, Anna was 15, disaster struck our family," Elsa continued and Hiccup gave her a curious look. "My parents had to go on a long trip overseas and they were caught in a heavy storm. They were lost at sea,"

"I'm sorry for your loss," Hiccup squeezed her hand. Elsa nodded and thanked him.

"It was…painful at that time. Anna had to bury our parents alone because I was afraid of going to the funeral. I couldn't risk it. I already froze my room from sadness at that time. From that point on, Anna stopped knocking on my doors," Elsa said and Hiccup squeezed her hand again. Elsa smiled before she continued.

"Things went normally for 3 years after that, which is 2 years ago. I was 21 at that time and of age to inherit the throne. In order for to be officially recognized as the Queen, I have to undergo a coronation ceremony," Elsa said. "And that's when my life began to change,"

Hiccup perked up at this. "For the first time in years, the castle gates were opened to the public and dignitaries from other countries," Elsa said.

"And you're going to be focus of everything," Hiccup stated and Elsa nodded. "And you didn't have control over your powers yet?"

She nodded again. "It was agony, having to stand in front of those people while you're the equivalent to a volcano waiting to erupt," Elsa continued. "Things went well for the most part. That was until Anna had told me that she wanted to marry Prince Hans from the Southern Isles. They had only met for a day,"

Hiccup pursed his lips and gave her a blank look. "A day. Really?" he said.

Elsa nodded. "Yes, although it is understandable. She is the type of person that requires socialization with other people, unlike me. After years of isolation, she was desperate for human contact,"

"And she grabbed the first opportunity presented to her," Hiccup stated and Elsa nodded.

"Since I was Anna's guardian, they required my blessing which I refused of course. And that's when things went bad. We had an argument and Anna managed to snag one of my gloves," she said and Hiccup 'ooh'ed.

"That's bad," Hiccup drawled and Elsa nodded.

"She then said that she couldn't live in isolation anymore and I…I told her to leave," Elsa said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Hiccup squeezed her hand again. "So did she leave?"

"Fortunately no. She asked what her fault was with me, why I shut the world out and what I was so afraid of," Elsa said. "I couldn't take it and I accidently released my magic in front of everyone,"

"Was it really bad?" Hiccup asked.

"Well…not really. Nobody got hurt. But there was a nasty Duke from Weselton that kept calling me a monster," Elsa said. To her surprise, Hiccup didn't react to it. She expected for him to be angry about it and declared that she wasn't a monster. Hiccup however, remained…impassive.

"Then?" he asked.

Elsa decided to ignore it for the moment. "I ran away. I ran to the Northern Mountains, to here," she continued.

Hiccup gave her a surprised look. "Wait, you ran, all the way here? Alone? And in your fancy dress?"

Elsa pursed her lips. "Yes,"

Hiccup gave her a disbelieving look this time. "Oookay," he said.

Truth to be told, Elsa herself was quite surprised by what she had done. Sure she ran for a while, but after that, she walked all the way to the top of the Northern Mountain without difficulty. It didn't tire her as well. She heard that Anna, Kristoff and the group of people that went after her didn't have such luck.

Elsa decided to continue. "When I've reached here, I felt…free. I concealed my powers because there were people around me. Now that I was alone, I don't have to hide it anymore. I could…let it go,"

At this Elsa blushed and Hiccup caught on to this. "And how did you let it go?" he asked.

"I…sang," she replied and looked away.

"…"

"…"

"You sang?" Hiccup broke the silence.

"Yes…" she simply said and Hiccup grinned.

"Can I hear it?" he asked and Elsa nodded nervously.

"But can we do it after the story?" Elsa offered and he nodded. His grin then faded into a small smile and Elsa continued her story. "I also created this castle when I was singing,"

Hiccup gave her an impressed look. "On the spot? No prior plan at all?" he asked and Elsa shook her head. He then whistled in amazement.

"Things went well for a while. I decided to live here alone so that I couldn't hurt people," Elsa said and Hiccup gave her a skeptical look again.

"Waaait," he started and Elsa knew what he was going to ask. "What about food? I mean, do you know how to hunt and cook before this?"

"I hadn't thought about it at that time," Elsa said sheepishly. Back then, the logistics of food supply was on the bottom of her list. "And I was up here for only about a day, so I didn't have to worry about food,"

Hiccup still had his skeptical look as he asked again. "Okay so let's say that you decided to stay up here forever, alone. What are you going to do about food? I don't think there's enough vegetables or fruit to sustain you up here, so you'll have to hunt. And I don't doubt you can hunt with your powers. It's just the preparation and cooking that I'm curious about,"

In his mind, Hiccup imagined an awkward Elsa running around chasing after rabbits in her royal dress. After a while, she would grow frustrated and resorted to freezing her prey to death. She would then feel bad because she used her powers to kill, but he thought that Elsa would get over it. It was an animal after all. After that, she would have to skin it, which would be the most entertaining part since Hiccup guessed that Elsa was squeamish.

Hiccup imagined a crying Elsa with bloodied hands, holding an ice knife over a mutilated rabbit. Suddenly, without a warning, she vomited. Okay, that was sad.

Then, should she get past that stage, how would she cook it? Does she know how to make fire without the use of a fire starter? Most likely not. And her powers might not help. Which meant that she might have to eat the rabbit raw.

An image of a feral Elsa came to his mind, eating animals raw like some cavewoman. Her clothes were dirty and tattered and -

While Hiccup was lost in his own imagination. Elsa blushed and pouted. The subject on food was a running joke by her sister and Kristoff back then. It was one of the reason why she learned how to cook. Kristoff had even thought her basic survival lessons like how to start a fire. She still didn't have much luck with hunting and skinning animals however.

"I'll manage somehow," Elsa replied with a huff.

Hiccup chuckled. "I believe you, after all, you have Viking blood in you,"

"Mine's quite diluted, I doubt I've inherited any Viking skills at all," Elsa replied and Hiccup shrugged.

"Perhaps. Still, if you do manage it, it will be quite a sight! You'll be like, the Mountain Queen or something. That would be incredible…and hot," Hiccup mumbled the last part. Fortunately, Elsa did not hear it.

Hiccup's curious mind then imagined a jungle-warrior Elsa. Not the feral one, mind you, but rather, someone that had managed to adapt to the wild but still retain the grace of a royalty. He imagined Elsa with a spear made of ice, her royal dress' were ripped off from the legs to allow movement and-

"So! Let's continue with the story," Elsa said and Hiccup was broken out of his thoughts.

He nodded and Elsa was grateful that they could move on from the rather embarrassing topic. However, she felt as if she had forgotten something. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to ponder about it for long. "Oh! And I also accidentally created my first living sentient snowman, Olaf,"

Elsa pointed a finger towards where the ice statue of Olaf was. Hiccup's gaze followed suit and fell upon the small snowman. "He looks chipper, much different than your Marshmallow,"

"That was because he was created when I was happy whereas Marshmallow, wasn't," Elsa explained and Hiccup nodded. He then turned his attention back to her again.

"So I was all alone in the mountains for a while. Alone, but happy. Then, to my surprise, Anna managed to find me together with Kristoff and Olaf. She tried to convince me to go back to Arendelle and fix things. At first, I thought she meant about what had happened; the revealing of my powers and so on. However, it turned out that I subconsciously conjured an everlasting winter that buried Arendelle in deep snow," Elsa said and Hiccup looked surprised.

"You did?" he asked and she nodded sadly.

"I didn't realize that I had done that. It served as a wake up call that I can't be free. I thought that by isolating myself up here, I would do everyone a favor. Arendelle would be safe from me and I could live without fear and without the need to conceal anymore. But the winter just showed that all I did was running away from my problems," Elsa continued.

Hiccup was reminded of how he tried himself had tried to ran away from his problems. "Don't be too hard on yourself, things might have been worse," he said and squeezed her hand.

Elsa nodded. It would have been worse. Had she stayed, Anna and Kristoff would have never met, Hans' true nature might have never been revealed and Elsa might not learn that love thaws.

"So what did you do next?" Hiccup asked and Elsa hesitated to continue.

"I panicked and I…I accidently hit Anna on her heart with my magic," Elsa said and looked down, ashamed to look at Hiccup.

Hiccup picked up on this and shrugged. "Eh, we all have hurt someone unintentionally. So what happened to her?"

Elsa turned to look at him again. "I…slowly froze her heart, but I didn't know I had done it. Although, it turned for the better. If I had realized it, things might have gotten worse," Elsa sighed. "At that time, I still didn't see a solution to my problem and just wanted to be alone. Anna, Kristoff and Olaf insisted on staying. So I made them leave by creating Marshmallow,"

Hiccup ooh'ed at this.

"After Marshmallow had done his job. I was left alone for a while. Then, Prince Hans came and brought along a couple of men to find Anna," Elsa said. "However, because Marshmallow was on guard…"

Hiccup nodded his head with an understanding look. "Things got bad, huh?"

Elsa nodded. "To be fair, it wasn't Marshmallow's fault. He was created by my desire to be left alone and I wasn't in a good state at that time," she said and Hiccup nodded again. "The men ended up fighting him. During the scuffle, two men managed to get past him. It turned out those men were the Duke of Weselton's bodyguards, sent to end me,"

"That wasn't surprising," Hiccup said and Elsa sighed.

"It wasn't," Elsa continued. "Shortly afterwards, Prince Hans managed to cut one of Marshmallow's legs and it made him fall to down the mountain,"

Hiccup rubbed his chin as he remembered a particular detail about the giant snowman. 'No wonder he wore ice plates all over his body when fighting,' Hiccup thought.

"Anyway, the Duke's men managed to corner me in the castle and they attacked me with their crossbows. I had no choice but to fight," Elsa said and Hiccup perked up at this.

"How did you do?" he asked and Elsa looked down at this.

"Extremely well," Elsa said in almost a whisper. "They couldn't land a hit on me but I almost killed them,"

Hiccup didn't say anything and Elsa continued the story. "Fortunately, before I could kill them, Prince Hans arrived and told me not to be the monster they fear,". Those words stopped me. Unfortunately, one of the Duke's men still had his crossbow with him. He was about to take a shot at me but Prince Hans managed to get to him in time and redirect the crossbow to the chandelier above me,"

"Chandelier?" Hiccup asked. "From ice?" Elsa nodded and Hiccup gave her a disbelieving look. "Even normal chandeliers are a deathtrap. Why would you have one made from ice?"

Elsa pouted. "The castle wouldn't be grand without it," she replied and Hiccup chuckled.

"Well, I don't know anything about non-Viking interior design, so don't let my opinion stop you," he said and Elsa huffed.

"Of course!" she said. A second of silence later, she took a deep breath before continuing. "Alright, so the Duke's men shot a bolt at the chandelier, causing it to fall towards me. I managed to avoid it in time but the crash knocked me out,"

Hiccup grinned and Elsa glared at him. "I didn't say anything," he defended.

Elsa's glare softened before she continued. "When I wake up, I was in Arendelle's prison and my hands were shackled. It turned out the shackles were…special,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this.

"It completely covers the whole hand," Elsa said. It took a second for Hiccup to piece everything. Usually, normal shackles were enough to restrain the average person. However, Elsa wasn't average.

"Could it be that your father…?" Hiccup asked and she nodded.

"I see," Hiccup said. "Did you ever know why he had it prepared?"

Elsa nodded. "It was one of the options prepared in case that I couldn't control my powers,"

Hiccup didn't need to ask what the other options was.

"How did you feel about it?" he asked.

Elsa sighed. "At first I didn't give it much thought. But after everything has calmed down and it crossed my mind, I was angry. But I learned and understood the reasoning behind it. In the end, I accepted it. In fact, if my powers weren't so powerful, I would have shackled myself,"

Hiccup gave her an awkward smile. "Well, it's good that you weren't depressed about that anymore but I uh, I wasn't sure about shackling yourself part. Unless it's your thing, then I won't judge,"

Elsa blushed when she realized what Hiccup had meant. She glared at him and send a powerful cold down his hand. Hiccup yelped at the sudden cold spike and chuckled.

"Kidding, kidding!" he said as he smiled and used his free hand to massage the top of her hand. The warmth from his hand and his smile made her blush again.

Elsa turned away for a few seconds to calm herself down. After her blush was gone, she turned to him again and decided to continue her story. "So-so, back to the story! Prince Hans came into my dungeon cell and asked me to stop the winter. I said that I couldn't and I needed Anna. However, he told me that Anna hadn't returned. I was so worried at that time. Worried for Anna and the people of Arendelle. And because my emotions were in turmoil, I subconsciously caused a heavy blizzard. It was then I I knew that I couldn't be in Arendelle at all. I had to go somewhere very far, further than the mountains with the hope that the blizzard would follow me. And so I asked Prince Hans to release me,"

"Did he though?" Hiccup asked and Elsa's lips pursed into a grim line.

"He said that he'll do what he can," Elsa said and Hiccup had a bad feeling about those words. Apparently, Elsa had the same idea. "I didn't believe that he or anyone would let me out so easily. So I had to escape on my own. Fortunately, my powers had grown so strong that not even the shackles or the dungeon could hold me. I managed to shatter the shackles and the dungeon walls,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow and whistled.

Elsa smiled sheepishly. "The repair cost wasn't cheap," she said and Hiccup chuckled. "Anyway, I tried to run away but the blizzard made it hard. And so Prince Hans managed to find me. I told him to take care of Anna but he told me that my sister had returned but she was cold as ice. He told me that I froze her heart, that she was frozen to death because of me,"

Hiccup didn't say anything but only squeezed her hand. Elsa smiled softly and continued. "It wasn't true however. Anna hasn't froze completely yet, but I didn't know it at the time. I was so heartbroken that the blizzard just stopped and I just didn't care about anything at all. I didn't care that I heard Prince Hans had drawn his sword to kill me,"

Elsa was silent for a moment. She was prepared to die at that time. Why wouldn't she? She was at the lowest. Her powers were uncontrollable and she had 'killed' someone with it. What was worse that it was her sister. At that moment, she was truly alone.

"Fortunately, my sister stepped in between me and Hans at the right moment. She blocked the sword at the same time her body completely turned to ice," Elsa continued. "The sword shattered and it send a shockwave that knocked Prince Hans away,"

Hiccup gave her a skeptical look. "Anna didn't shatter?"

Elsa shook her head with a smile. "Fortunately, no. Fortunately, she thawed and turned normal again,"

Hiccup had that look again. "How so?"

"If fear is my greatest enemy, what is the opposite of fear?" Elsa asked.

"I would say courage but I don't think that applies here," Hiccup answered and Elsa giggled.

"Well, you're right on both accounts. In my case, it was-is love," Elsa answered. "Anna had met with the trolls on her way back to the castle to seek help with her…freezing affliction. Grandpabbie had told her that since I had frozen her heart, the only way to remove it is with love. For only an act of true love will thaw a frozen heart,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow before he chuckled. "That's…corny,"

Elsa nodded. "But it worked. You see, at that time Anna thought that an act of true love was a kiss from someone that she love romantically. She thought that it was Prince Hans but it turned out that he didn't love her at all. He only wanted to marry her for the throne and he was more than happy to let her die and kill me to get to it,"

Hiccup was confused. "Wait, Prince Hans was evil? And how would he get the throne if the both of you were dead?" he asked.

"I'm not sure if he is still evil but yes, Prince Hans was evil back then. And he said to my council members that he and Anna had exchanged marriage vows and that they were married. And so that made him Prince Hans of Arendelle. And with Anna and I gone, he would become King Hans of Arendelle," Elsa explained.

Hiccup gave her a blank look. "Can that even work?"

Elsa giggled. "No. Even if they did exchanged marriage vows, there were no witness or person with the authority to approve it. Even if Prince Hans had managed to kill the both of us, his claim will be in doubt, especially by my General. However in retrospect, Prince Hans might actually succeed as he has established a good image while I was gone. That and with the true royalties gone, Hans could have easily asked for support either from his country or others to take over Arendelle by force if needed,"

Hiccup nodded. "That might be a sound plan actually. Crafty that guy,"

Elsa nodded. "But luck wasn't on his side…" Elsa said. '…or to be exact, Olaf,' she finished the thought in her mind. "Anyway, it turned out that it was-is Kristoff that she loves and Kristoff loves her as well. At first, she wanted to get to him so that they can kiss but along the way, Anna saw that Hans was about to kill me. And so she chose to sacrifice her chance of curing herself to save me,"

Hiccup's eyes widened as he pieced the puzzle. "Ah! So an act of true love doesn't have to be a kiss!"

Elsa nodded with a smile. "And true love doesn't necessarily mean romantic love. The love from family applies as well. It was at then I realized that to properly control my powers, all I need was love. All this time, I thought that I wasn't loved. Even though my parents loved me, the way they showed it wasn't enough to convince me. And I thought that Anna hated me for all that I've put her through. But she didn't. And that made me feel loved. After that, I could control my powers well and I undid the Eternal Winter,"

Hiccup nodded. "So what happened to Prince Hans?"

Elsa smiled. "Anna punched him, hard,"

Hiccup whistled.

"And after that, we send him back to be punished by his brothers," Elsa said in a rather unsatisfied tone. "Given choice, I would punished him here but politics. Had I done so, his brothers might use it as an excuse for war, even if he deserved it. That and I want to build a positive image," Elsa explained and Hiccup nodded.

"That's a good move, especially with your powers made public to the world. You wouldn't want them be afraid of you," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded. She wanted to build a kind and caring image, not someone that would freeze a person for a light offense.

Although what Hans did wasn't exactly light.

"And that's the end of my story," Elsa said and Hiccup nodded again.

"So…if things could go differently, how would you want it?" Hiccup asked and Elsa gave him a curious look.

It was a strange question because nobody had ever asked her that. Well why would they? They wanted her to move on and asking that will only made her stuck in the past.

"Well, I wished that the trolls had told my father that love thaws. In retrospect, I should have hit Anna on the heart that night. Things might have been different then," Elsa answered.

Hiccup nodded before chuckling. "So all this could be avoided if the trolls weren't so vague, eh?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Anna and I did gave Grandpabbie a piece of our mind but it's all in the past," Elsa sighed. Truth to be told, they couldn't entirely blame the trolls. They had different a mentality than humans as they saw the world differently.

For the trolls, the act of destroying nature was unthinkable. The natural world was sacred to them. To humans however, nature was just a hindrance to their progress.

As such, when her parents went to the trolls for a solution, they gave it according to their views. Asking for their help was like asking a magical creature the best way to stop humans from destroying nature. The most likely answer was the removal of humans from the world.

It wasn't the best solution for humanity, but for everyone or everything else, it was the obvious answer.

"Say, what happened to the Duke that called you a monster?" Hiccup asked and Elsa perked up at this. Hiccup's question reminded her of a matter that Elsa wanted his opinion about.

"Well, I sent him back to his country and banned any trade from Arendelle to Weselton. Ever since then, he has been trying to convince everyone that I'm a monster," Elsa answered.

Hiccup didn't say anything about the matter but he instead released her arm and stood up to do some light stretching.

His reaction disappointed Elsa. The truth was that, she knew that it wasn't possible to make the whole world think that she wasn't a monster. She has already accepted that and she wouldn't mind it even if the people of Arendelle thought her as such.

However, it was a different matter if the people that were close to her shared the same thought. If Anna said that Elsa was a monster, you can bet that there might be a second Eternal Winter. But that was it, the people that were dear to her had told her that she wasn't a monster. That she was a human.

Despite their short time together, Hiccup was considered to be a dear person to her. They had bared their hearts to each other, something that Elsa had difficulty doing. So the fact that Hiccup didn't tell her that she wasn't a monster, disappointed and pained her.

'Why would it matter if he thought so?' Elsa asked herself. 'It would be just one opinion against many others. Would his opinion matter over others like Anna?'

With a heavy heart, she thought yes. Why actually? Why would his opinion held more sway than Anna who still loved Elsa despite all that she had inflicted on her?

It could be because Hiccup was a young monarch like her. He didn't judge, looked at her with fear, disdain or sympathy like the Kings and Queens that she had met. He wasn't a prince that had never properly ruled. He understood the burden of leadership and they could talk about it like two people comparing study notes, instead of one being a teacher and the other a student.

Hiccup was her equal in so many ways that others couldn't be, including Anna.

It could be because Hiccup had similarities with her that other people don't have. It could be because of his vast experience that Anna or Kristoff didn't have. Or it could be that he has a different perspective on life than her, that Hiccup might have seen something else that everyone missed.

If Hiccup indeed saw her as a monster, why? She was afraid that his answer might break her but she had to know.

"Hiccup," she started and Hiccup stopped what he was doing. "Do you think that I'm a monster? Please answer honestly,"

Hiccup didn't turn to face her and the effects was immediate and terrible. It made her feel like she was a_ horrible _thing to look at. It crushed the confidence that she had built up all those years after her coronation. It made her feel like she was a _monster. _

How strange that he had such an effect on her.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hiccup only replied with a single word.

"Yes,"

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>What is this?! Hiccup thought that Elsa is a monster?! How could he?! And why?! Wait, why am I asking you guys this when I already know the answer? And I have a feeling that some of you might know the answer too! See you next chapter!

**Read and Review!**


	22. Chapter 21: A Matter of Perspective

**Author's Note: **Hello readers! Oho! I seem to get quite the reaction from you readers! Some of you were angry by Hiccup but that's understandable. Elsa did asked his honest opinion and well, Hiccup didn't pull his punches because to him, that would insult Elsa's character and credibility to handle honest opinions. Reader **YouNameIt1 **nailed this!

And it seems that quite a lot of you readers understand what Hiccup meant! Especially reader guest reader **Anon. **Yes, it is all about perspective.

That being said, although in this chapter Hiccup will explain his perspective on the matter, the bottom AN will explain it why his perspective is used outside of the story. It's quite lengthy, so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. But if you did, you readers are awesome!

Alright, let's move on!

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><p><strong>Chapter 21 – A Matter of Perspective<strong>

Hiccup let out a long sigh before scratching his head. He then turned around to find a predictably dejected looking Elsa.

"Why?" she asked, not looking at him. Her fingers were playing with the emerald shawl, his gift that was still tied around her waist. The shawl proved to be a bad distraction however, as it was from him after all. And at the moment, Elsa felt that she didn't want anything to do with him.

Oh, how easy it would be to just dismiss the Viking and gave him the cold shoulder for as long as they live. The old Elsa might have done that. The person she was right now, wasn't. She won't run away from her problems or conflict anymore. Elsa has learned that running away will only leave the problem to someone else to handle.

"Look, Elsa," Hiccup started. "You do realize that it is just my opinion, right? An opinion from a different point of view. You don't have to accept it,"

"I know that," Elsa said and gazed at the Viking with determined eyes. "I still want to know why I am a monster in your eyes,"

The both of them stared each other for a moment and it seemed that Hiccup was hesitant to discuss the matter with her. That was funny, it should be her, not the other way around. Usually, people were hesitant because they were afraid of her. He couldn't have gotten the cold feet now, could he?

"How would you define a monster?" he asked and Elsa was surprised by the question. She wanted answers, not questions! As such, anger filled her core and revived her confidence again. She no longer felt like the little girl that felt like a failure for her lack of control. She was Queen Elsa back again, the one that would not let other people's opinion crush her.

A second later, her gaze hardened again. She wanted to reprimand him for trying to skirt around the question but he beat her to it.

"Just answer, please," he asked again with a soft tone.

Hearing that surprised her and it cooled her anger just enough to answer it. "To me…someone is a monster when that person committed actions that are…_inhumane_," she answered.

Hiccup shrugged. "True. So what actions would you consider inhumane, then?" he asked.

Elsa narrowed her eyes in defiance to Hiccup's unorthodox method to answer her question. Still, she decided to entertain him for the moment. Elsa then pondered on the question; what action would be considered inhumane to her? The answer was simple enough, it was something that a good person wouldn't do, something that she wouldn't do.

"Rape, slavery, murder," she answered but she soon regretted it when she realized her last answer and its ramification. The hurt in Hiccup's eyes didn't help either. She wanted to apologize, to say that she didn't think that he was a monster but Hiccup didn't give her the chance.

"And so is freezing people's hearts," he said bluntly and it immediately quelled her sympathy for him. Anger took over again and she glowered at him. The temperature then began to drop drastically as she replied.

"I didn't freeze people's hearts on purpose!" Elsa answered.

"And that justify it? That made it right?" he countered. "You didn't consider it to be inhumane because Anna thawed in the end, but would you still think the same if she didn't?"

Elsa's eyes widened. That was true. If Anna hadn't thawed, she wouldn't deny being a monster.

"So your definition of inhumane depends on the intention then? Not the action itself?" Hiccup continued.

Elsa suddenly remembered her own words that were used against the Vikings.

"_Good intentions doesn't justify a wrong action,"_

"So what about Marshmallow, then? You purposely created him to be that way," Hiccup added and Elsa looked away. "So you're saying that, a person is not a monster as long as he has good intentions and his actions turned out for the better in the end?"

It hurt. If Anna was here, she would have rejected Hiccup's statement. To Anna, that wasn't the truth. The truth was that Elsa didn't mean to do it and that made her innocent. In a way, that was true. Good intentions _can _sometimes justify a wrong action. A self-defense murder, for example, was justifiable.

But Elsa also knew that there were truth in Hiccup's words. After all, even though Anna had assured her that what she did wasn't wrong, that feeling of having done something…_inhumane _still haunted her. It won't go away no matter how many times Anna tried to convince her otherwise.

And Hiccup's words resonated within her, more so than Anna's. The feeling was like finally meeting someone that spoke what she needed to hear and not what she wanted. To her, it was as if someone has spoken the harsh but needed truth instead of sweet lies.

It wasn't to say that she thought Anna's words were lies, but…

"I…" she said and Elsa felt like a little girl once again. "You're right," she turned to face him again and her eyes began to tear. "Thank you for your _insight_. It has been _enlightening_," she said and got to her feet. She had only walked a few paces after him but stopped when she heard her name being called.

"Elsa…" Hiccup said softly. "You asked me a question, so now I want to ask you-"

"That is hardly fair. You have already asked me a lot when you could just answer my question," Elsa cut him off and he chuckled.

"That's true. But I still want to ask," Hiccup said. "So do you want to listen?"

Silence filled the room for a moment. What more does she have to listen? She already had her answer. At the moment, she just wanted to be alone and…try to control her emotions. She wanted to cry her heart out but she couldn't risk an Eternal Winter.

"And as far as I'm concerned, I haven't finished answering you yet. So I guess, my question will be the final answer?"

Hearing the somewhat ridiculous statement made Elsa laughed a little and it eased her feelings. "Why can't you just do things the easy way?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Beats me,"

Elsa sighed as her emotions cooled down. "Alright," she said and wanted to turn around but Hiccup prevented her.

"Can we…sit down and talk like this?" he asked. Elsa raised an eyebrow but couldn't question further as Hiccup sat down first. She pursed her lips before she sat down as well. Now on the floor, their backs were facing each other and they were so close that they were almost leaning on each other.

"Before I ask the question, I want to tell you…another story," Hiccup said and Elsa frowned.

'Another one?' Elsa thought.

"My bodyguard, Sigurd," Hiccup started and Elsa's frown turned to a curious look. "He was born out of wedlock. His father captured his mother during a raid and…you get the idea," Elsa's eyes widened at this. "When he was born, her mother managed to escape back to her village as soon as she got the chance. But she didn't take him with her,"

Elsa gasped. That was a cruel thing to do. To her, newborns were innocent. And although she was fortunate not to endure what Sigurd's mother had been through, she didn't think that she could do that to her child.

"Sigurd's tribe was one of the worst ones. Bloodthirsty, brutal, loved battle and they never feared anything. But Sigurd…he was a hiccup. Despite his size and strength, he didn't share the same…_passion _as his tribesmen," Hiccup said. "And his tribesmen knew that and capitalized on it. In other words, he was bullied,"

Elsa pursed her lips. The notion of someone with large physical size can't be bullied wasn't alien to her. Kristoff was one of the example. And the bullying doesn't have to be physical.

"One day, his tribe attacked his mother's tribe once again," Hiccup continued. "He and his father found her, but this time, she was with her family. She had a husband and two children,"

That was…Elsa didn't know what to think of Sigurd's mother. She didn't fault her for finding another source of happiness but…it was at the expense of Sigurd's own.

"His father beat her husband to death. Then he issued an ultimatum; Sigurd has to prove that he is his son by killing his mother and children, or he will end all of her lineage, including Sigurd," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened.

"Did-did he…?" she asked.

"As angry as he was with his mother for leaving him, it wasn't enough to make him want to kill her and her children. But…he feared his father and…he complied," Hiccup finished and Elsa gasped again.

"No…" Elsa said and put a hand on her mouth.

"The guilt would continue to haunt him until this day. But that guilt also brought him to my cause. And since his father would rather die than join me, Sigurd killed him," Hiccup said. "By the end of the war, Sigurd has killed his entire family,"

Elsa was speechless. She never thought that Sigurd had such a horrible story. Sure, she didn't know him very well but she assumed that if Hiccup trusted him to be his bodyguard, then he has to be someone...that is not a mosnter?

"So…this isn't my true question by the way, but…do you think that Sigurd is a monster? Killing your entire family, that has to be one of the most inhumane things you could ever think of, right?"

That was true. A part of her wanted to say yes. Her body wanted to nod but...she couldn't. "But he didn't have a choice," Elsa tried.

"He was given a choice," Hiccup said and Elsa's eyes widened. "He could choose to die as a human, but he didn't. And even if he was forced, it still doesn't change the fact that he was the one that killed them,"

She didn't know what to say.

"So what about Varin?" Hiccup continued. "He has worse powers than you and how he use it is definitely inhumane. But because he did it for the right reasons, does that mean he is not a monster?"

What Hiccup said was true again. Even though Varin had the best intentions, it didn't change the fact that what he had done was horrible.

"Or what about your parents? It must have hurt them to know that they might have to use those shackles on you. It must have made them feel like a _monster,_" Hiccup said.

That revelation felt like a slap to her. She never thought that her parents might have felt that way.

"Or what about me?" Hiccup continued. "I plunged the whole kingdom into a civil war because I wanted to be king. And along the way, I made parents bury their child, separate lovers, created orphans and made a monster out of my friend,"

Elsa's eyes widened as she finally realized that Hiccup sees himself as a monster. But that was it, sure, what he did made him a monster but…why it seemed like he wanted to remain that way? Why couldn't he forgive himself?

"I…yes, alright, you, Sigurd, Varin…my parents and even me," it was hard for her to say it, "-are monsters. But why do we have want to remain that way? Why can't we just forgive and move on?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Who says we haven't?" he said and it surprised her. "You know, Sigurd was very suicidal back then, more so than what was expected from a Viking. It took a lot of effort to get him to stop fighting but when he did, I asked him why he was so eager to die,"

"He said that it was penance for what he did. That his death would calm the souls of his family. I said that it was ridiculous. I told him that he wasn't worth 3 souls," Hiccup chuckled again. "He nearly killed me for that. So I said that since he, in a way, has stolen his family's future, he has to live that future well and not to squander it by dying,"

Elsa raised an eyebrow at this. "And…he forgave himself?"

"It would take a while. But it was enough to stop his suicidal mood," Hiccup said. "As for Varin…I like to think that he found forgiveness on the other side,"

It became silent for a moment. "And you helped me, remember?"

"That was true," Elsa smiled a small smile. "So then why do you still label yourself as a monster?"

"It's not about forgiveness. To me, you don't just stop and turn back to human once you've conquered your inner demons and paid your penance. To me, you can't go back, you can't undo what you did. Once you've become a monster, the only thing you can change is the kind of monster that you will become," Hiccup explained.

"That's…depressing," Elsa said and Hiccup chuckled before he sighed.

"Sigurd will not deny what he did. He will not justify it. To him, if he did that, it would wash away what he did and it will make his family's death insignificant. It also reminded him of what he is capable of; that in time of great stress, he could kill his family just to survive. If he just brushed it off, it would be easy for him to do it again. To him, if he did that, then he would be a different kind of monster that's worse," Hiccup said.

"As for me, I don't want to justify what I did. I don't want to say that what I did was right because I have the right intentions or that the end justify the means. If I did think that what I did wasn't monstrous, then it would be easy for me to do it again and again,"

"I could have just chosen to conquer Arendelle for the good of my people. It wasn't the right thing to do but hey, it is justified because I have good intentions and it benefitted my people in the end, right?" Hiccup continued. "What would you think of me if I did that?"

Elsa pursed her lips. "I would think of you as a monster,"

"That's right. I am a monster, but I'm not that _kind_ of monster. And the funny thing is, because I understood what it feels like to be a monster that it stopped me from being the other kind of monster. Do you get it?" he asked.

"Yes," Elsa giggled. "It is like how a person that has committed a crime and repented would appreciate being good,"

"Yup," Hiccup nodded before he sighed. "Elsa, I'm not saying that it is good to be a monster because let's face it, most people become monsters for the wrong reasons. And I've met monsters worse than you and most of them didn't have powers to help them reach that status. Most of them are truly evil in that there's almost nothing human about them,"

Suddenly, Sigurd's father came to her mind.

"But I've also met good ones that knew what being a human is like. Some of us didn't become one by choice. Good men mean well. We just don't always end up doing well," Hiccup said and Elsa looked sad at this. Frederik had said almost the same thing about her parents.

"But some of us chose to become monsters…so that others don't have to," Hiccup said and sighed again.

Elsa perked up at this. "What do you mean?"

"We all want to live the way we want. I want everyone to live peacefully with dragons. You want people to stop being afraid of you. And given choice, we would want to…impose our ideals to everyone, right?" Hiccup said and Elsa nodded grimly. If there was a button that would make everyone not be afraid of her, she would push it.

"But we can't because the same idea applies to everyone as well. They want to live the way they want and they would want to impose it to everyone as well. The difference was how far we are willing to go for our ideals," Hiccup said and sighed.

"And to me, that separates the humans from the monsters. To me, the people, the citizens, the subjects or as I like to call them, the humans…they're _weak_," Hiccup continued and this surprised Elsa. She never thought that Hiccup would think that way.

"They're free to be human. They can choose who to love, who to marry. The decisions they make is only about themselves and they carry only their burden. And yet, when someone threatens their way of living, how far do you think the average people would go to protect it? Do you think that they could make the tough decisions? Do you think that they would sacrifice their family for a thousand people they hardly know?" Hiccup explained and shook his head. "Most likely not because they couldn't, because they're human. And they needed someone to protect their humanity. Someone that would go further than they could. They needed monsters,"

"So what about the monsters then? The _strong _ones?" Hiccup asked a rhetorical question. "They don't have the luxury of carrying their own burden. They are the ones that have to make the sacrifices, the tough decisions and the horrible actions. Leaders can't only think about themselves or just a select few. They have to think about everyone they're responsible for. They are the ones that have to make _inhumane _decisions and live with it. Why? So that others wouldn't have to," Hiccup continued.

Elsa couldn't help but nod.

"You said that murder is inhumane," Hiccup continued and Elsa perked up at the inquiry. "So what about your soldiers, guards and defenders? They are willing to kill so that others won't have to. What about the fathers that went to war with the hopes that his children wouldn't have to experience the same thing? And a soldier that has killed hundreds of enemies will be seen as a hero by his people. But to the enemy?"

Elsa's eyes widened at the revelation.

"And what about dragons? Almost everyone that meets a dragon would think them as a monster. Heck, before we lived with them, even the Vikings consider them as monsters!" Hiccup chuckled.

"So finally. After all that long talk, this is the question that I want to ask you," Hiccup said. He sighed before leaning on her. The gesture surprised her but she didn't pull away. And after what seemed like an eternity, he asked.

"Is it truly bad to be a monster? Sure, it will make you less human, but does it mean that you can't be human at all?"

"I…" Elsa tried but she couldn't answer him.

"But like I said, that is my opinion and my perspective on what being a monster is. It is not a fact and I know that a lot of people would disagree with me, so you don't have to accept it. I don't force it down people's throat because they would probably think that I have emotional and mental issues," he said with a chuckle. "You're the only person I've ever told about this,"

Elsa's heart fluttered at this. Hiccup trusted her enough to tell one of his deepest secrets.

"And whatever your answer will be, I won't hold it against you. I can't expect you to accept it when what we have been through is different. And even if you've been through the same, I still won't force you to accept it," Hiccup said before he got to his feet. He then walked away, no doubt going to where Toothless was and left Elsa alone to her thoughts.

Elsa could only watch the retreating form of Hiccup in silence as she wondered what he had told her. As expected, his view on what being a monster was completely different than her. And to say that it shook her core and beliefs was an understatement. It made her reflect not only on her own perspective but also her own self.

The truth was that, Elsa's definition of makes a monster wasn't as strict as Hiccup's. Hers was more lenient and as such, she had never thought anyone that she had met as a monster. She had yet to meet anyone that she truly thought would be worthy of the title. To be honest, she didn't think that she had the heart to call someone that.

But that was before Hiccup had shared his perspective.

Still to be honest, Hiccup's perspective was somewhat…cruel, even if it was true. She could imagine how her defenders would react if she callously called them that, even if they shared Hiccup's perspective. Because really, it was like shoving an ugly reminder to their faces. It was like constantly reminding an ex-convict of his crimes. Even if he has come to terms with what he did, it doesn't mean that he like to be reminded of it all the time.

Elsa wondered if Hiccup was a masochist.

However, it doesn't change the fact that Hiccup's perspective resonated positively with her. Was it because it was better than her own? Maybe, maybe not. But it was the one that she was most comfortable with.

All this time, she always had that nagging feeling that she would always be different from the rest, that she was a piece of a puzzle that doesn't fit. Anna had told her again and again that she wasn't a monster because her intentions were good. If that is true, does it mean that Elsa could freeze Anna repeatedly even though she had good intentions? Anna also said that she she was not a monster even if she was capable of something that normal humans couldn't do. She tried to convince herself that as well but why does it felt like lies?

And yet, she kept trying to believe in those lies because she was afraid of the truth. Afraid that if she was accept that she was a monster, she couldn't be human anymore. That it would be the worst thing that she could ever do.

It made her question herself, just like how Hiccup had asked her. Why can't she be a monster and human at the same time?

And was it truly bad to be monster? Before this, to her she would be a monster when she had _killed. _But was that the worst thing that she could ever do? Elsa sighed and she closed her eyes to search for the answer.

What would she prefer? To have a clean hand and conscience than not saving lives at all?

Elsa imagined a scenario where a person was about to be killed by an assassin. Sure, she could freeze her enemies in a block of ice to stop them, but what if that wasn't viable? That her only choices were either to kill or not to kill.

What would be her choice then? What would she prefer? Would she preferred to sacrifice that person so that she could remain…'pure'? Or sacrifice her humanity so that the person might live?

Perhaps the most accurate question would be; which choice could she live with?

And as if to answer her, her heart thumped loudly. It turned out, the answer wasn't as bad as she always thought it would be.

Then and there Elsa sworn that she would not sacrifice someone just so that she could remain 'pure' and 'white' as the snow that she controls. No, in fact, if she had done that, she would be the opposite. She would not remain pure. She would become…_the other kind of monster. _

And for the kicker, let's say that Arendelle was attacked. She wouldn't be surprised if it was because of her. But that would make it even worse because it would be her fault. And if she was still adamant of trying to keep her hands clean and leave all the dirty work to someone else, then what would that make her? An extremely selfish person and even worse monster than if she had dirtied her hand.

Elsa then opened her eyes and looked at her hands. It was ironic really, that the worst thing that she could do was _not to_ _kill _when needed. It surprised her that she didn't thought things that way but, she did had a different perspective after all.

Elsa sighed. In another life, if she wasn't Royalty, if she wasn't a leader, then she could worry about having clean hands and conscience. Then she could leave all the fighting and tough decisions to someone else.

But Elsa was a Queen, with or without her powers.

**…**

After an hour after, Elsa found Hiccup with Toothless again. He was lying on the floor and his prosthetic leg was missing. She was surprised and worried by this. What happened? Why would he remove it?

She approached him silently and she found her answer. Hiccup used his prosthetic as a pillow. And it seemed that he was asleep.

'That doesn't look comfortable,' Elsa thought. The Snow Queen couldn't just let her guest sleep like this!

And so Elsa nudged Hiccup to wake him. "Hiccup," she said softly. He didn't wake.

'Strange, he must be really tired. But I thought the coffee would keep him awake," she thought. She didn't know that not everyone react the same way to coffee. To Hiccup, there was hardly any difference whether or not he had drank coffee.

Elsa however, wasn't the type of person to get tired so easily in the night, with or without coffee. She was used to it to finish her work. And when she had checked her watch, it was only 12.30 a.m. That was still early to her.

She then used an extra effort to wake the Viking King up. "Hiccup!" she shook his body. This had the desired effect but not in the way that she could have imagine.

Hiccup's eyes immediately shot open and he sat straight. With unbelievable speed, he grabbed his prosthetic leg and wield it like a club, ready to smack the person that dared disturb his sleep. And if that wasn't enough, he screamed his dragon's name.

Toothless had almost the same reaction as his master. His eyes shot wide open and instantly turned to slits. He bared his teeth, got to his feet, spread his wings and roared.

To say that Elsa was scared out of her mind was an understatement. She stumbled back as she screamed and fortunately for the Viking and dragon, she only let out a blast of snow that covered the both of them. After that, the serious situation turned into a hilarious scene. Whatever intimidating feature that Hiccup and Toothless had was gone as snow covered every inch of their body. A second later, the snow that covered their eyes fell off to reveal confused eyes.

"Wha? Elsa?" Hiccup said.

Elsa couldn't help but smile. "Yes, it's me," she said and waved her hand away to dispel the snow.

"Haven't you heard the phrase, "let the sleeping dragon lie?"" Hiccup said and rubbed his eyes to dispel his drowsiness.

"More or less, yes. Sorry, but I couldn't let you sleep the way you were," she said and Hiccup yawned before he reattached his prosthetic leg again.

"I usually sleep like this when I'm outdoors. My leg has saved a lot of times from assassins," Hiccup said and Toothless warbled in annoyance. "Oh and Toothless too,"

Elsa nodded. "I see. Still, I'm surprised that you tuck in early. I thought that…you know, you would like to hear my answer,"

Hiccup yawned and this time, Toothless followed suit. Seeing that made Elsa feel bad for waking them up. "I thought that you would want to sleep on it. I know I would,"

Elsa look sheepish. "Sorry. But now that you're awake, you should sleep in the guest room. The mattress and blanket are thick fur so it would be more comfortable," she offered.

"That would be nice," Hiccup said before he yawned again. Toothless also yawned but his mouth opened to its full extent. Elsa's eyes widened at this. From the look of it, an entire human head could fit into it! However, Toothless brought his tail and covered his gaping mouth with his tailfin. After he was done, the tail then slapped his own face and he shook his head to clear the drowsiness.

'My, my, Toothless knows his manners,' she thought.

"So uh…" Hiccup started and it brought Elsa back to reality. She turned his attention to him and found that Hiccup looked unsure.

"Oh yes! So I have the answer to your question," she said and Elsa could have sworn that Hiccup looked nervous. Strangely enough, he reacted like Elsa was when she asked Hiccup the question.

And in that moment she understood. Just as Hiccup's answer had a huge weight on her, the same was true for Hiccup with her own answer. Before this, she was scared that Hiccup would view her differently, but it turned out, it was the same was for Hiccup.

"You know, you kept surprising me Hiccup. I never thought that a Viking could be so philosophical," she said.

Hiccup shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck while avoiding her eyes. "Well…you know, I'm not the typical Viking. And the philosophical stuff comes with experience, I think," he said rather nervously.

Elsa smiled. Another reason why Hiccup's opinion of her mattered so much was because subconsciously, she thought of him as a figure of authority much like her father. Her father was a kind ruler, fair and smart. So when she was little, she never thought he could be wrong. Her father's words were the law.

After all, she didn't know what to do herself, so it was better to listen to the person that knew more than her.

As such, because of what Hiccup had went through and his seemingly out-of-the-world achievements, Hiccup seemed like a magical sage to her. His street smart and world experience was definitely leagues better. And because of that, Elsa had subconsciously painted Hiccup to be…impeccable, perfect.

But she had forgotten that Hiccup wasn't flawless.

"And you are quite the pessimist," Elsa said.

"Eh, I like to think I'm a realist," he replied and looked into her eyes again.

"Well, you certainly have a…refreshing perspective to say the least," Elsa started. "As for your answer, I found that being a monster is not so bad, as long as you still have a part of your humanity and for the right reasons,"

Hiccup smiled. It seemed that Toothless doesn't want to be left out of the moment and decided to nudge Elsa's hand.

She smiled as she rubbed the dragon's snout. "After all, dragons are monsters as well, but they're not so bad," Toothless closed his eyes and purred happily.

"And thank you, Hiccup. You helped me see clearly," Elsa said and Hiccup shrugged again.

"It's not all me. You're the one that listened," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded.

"It seems so," she said and the both of them stared each other in a comfortable silence. Elsa was glad that she had asked and listened to Hiccup. Sure, it did break her for a moment, but in the end, it made her stronger. "Funny, before this the word monster was almost taboo for me, but now I'm fine with it,"

"Yeah, but that word seems like the only thing we're discussing. Can we move on?" Hiccup said and Elsa raised an eyebrow at this.

"I thought you want to sleep?" she asked and Hiccup grinned. Suddenly, she had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

"You disturbed our sleep, so we need to do something!" he replied. "And I remembered that you owe me a song,"

Elsa instantly blushed and turned her gaze away. "That-that's!" she stuttered. "Well I did say that I would sing for you but-but I don't think it will be good. I'm not a professional singer or anything. It'd be horrible. I would be horrible,"

"How could you be horrible? Have you heard your own voice? You know, if you weren't a queen, it would say that you would make a great singer," Hiccup said and Elsa blushed deeper.

"Al-alright, don't say that I didn't warn you," Elsa said and she got to her feet. Hiccup gave her a thumbs up and Toothless smiled excitedly at her.

Her legs felt like jelly and her heart was trying to escape her chest. She rarely do this for anyone. In fact, she had only done it once for Anna when she had asked her side of the story during the Eternal Winter. If everyone going to ask her to sing every time she told her story, she would have to omit that part out.

Hiccup sensed her nervousness and an idea struck him. A good way to reduce nervousness was to distract the mind by making them feel something else. Usually, humor worked best.

"Elsa, I have a story to tell you," Hiccup said and got up. Elsa only gave him a skeptical look.

'Another story?' Elsa thought. While she didn't mind hearing them, she felt that she had enough for the day. Still, Hiccup didn't give her a chance to disagree.

"Okay, there were three Vikings, Angier, Bjorn and Calder," he started. "The three of them liked a woman, Hilda and has been fighting over her. So they decided to make a competition. Whoever can hit an apple that was placed on top of her head from the farthest range, win. So the competition were then made in the center of the village that they live so that everybody can see how awesome they were,"

"Okay?" Elsa said. Why did she felt like something bad was going to happen to the woman?

"Alright, so Angier goes first. He shot an arrow from 50 meters away and managed to hit the apple square in the center," Hiccup said and Elsa nodded. It was quite impressive. "He then screamed, "I AM ANGIER!"" Hiccup screamed and it shocked Elsa.

"Oh…alright?" she said, unsure of what was going to happen.

Hiccup nodded before he continued. "Next, Bjorn used a crossbow and from 100 meters away he hits the apple as well. He then screamed "I AM BJORN!""

Hiccup didn't wait for Elsa as he continued. "Then comes Calder. From 200 meters away, he threw a knife at the apple. It hits Hilda on the calf instead,"

Elsa's eyes widened. She knew it!

"Calder then faced everyone like he had done nothing wrong and had won the competition-" Hiccup then struck a prideful pose. "-and screamed, "I AM SORRY!""

It was silent for a few seconds before Elsa burst into laughter. She laughed so hard that she had to hold her sides and sat on the floor. Hiccup and Toothless smiled at seeing this. The sound of Elsa's laughter was music to their ears and so they let her have her moment and Hiccup sat on the floor.

About 3 minutes later, Elsa finally stopped laughing. Although she would burst into a fit of giggle whenever she remembered the joke again. She then wiped away a tear and when saw Hiccup's smiling face, she realized that her nervousness was gone.

"That was a terrible joke. Why does the woman has to get hurt?" Elsa commented and Hiccup shrugged.

"The original was worse. She got the knife to her head. At least the guy was sorry, right?" he said and Elsa sighed.

"Still, thank you," she said with a smile and Hiccup nodded. She then got to her feet again and saw Hiccup giving her a thumbs up and Toothless smiled excited at her.

Elsa walked to the center of the room, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she had sung to Anna, she did it in her room, seated. Now, Elsa felt like she had to do it in a special way for Hiccup. As such, she had been thinking of her song choreography.

To be honest, she wanted to sing it like the first time, complete with the ice building and all that. But of course, that would mean that they have to go outside and Elsa would probably need to create another ice castle. That would take too much effort at the moment. So she had to do with an improvised version.

After a moment, she then knew what she wanted to do. With a smile, she conjured a replica of her coronation dress from ice over her riding attire. She didn't make any changes to her non-ice clothing this time. To complete the look, she conjured a single glove and crown. She then opened her eyes her to her perplexed audience.

Good. There was more to come. She then started to sing. Her song started with a sad tone and she also acted the part. Hiccup looked concerned at this but he and Toothless remained quiet. Then came the part where she throw away her single glove in front of her. She sent a gust of wind from her hand to let it float further away from her and turned it into fine snow.

After that, she continued her song with displays of her magic and even created a lifeless replica of Olaf. She then took off her cape and willed a snowy wind to blow it away from her before it turned into fine snow as well.

Now that she wasn't restricted by her cape, she began to move around more with a happier expression. She noticed that Hiccup smiled upon seeing her happy face. Her heart couldn't help but to beat faster but it didn't disrupt her focus as she continued to sing.

_And the fears that once controlled me,_

_Can't get to me at all!_

She then vanished the walls of her observatory tower and walked towards its edge. Hiccup and Toothless almost got their feet in worry. Fortunately for them, she turned towards them again.

As she couldn't create a stair for the next part of her song, she settled with another display of magic. And when it came to the part where she had to create her ice castle, she decided to remodel the observatory tower instead. It was needed anyway, considering that it didn't have the walls and ceiling anymore. Hiccup and Toothless was surprised by the sudden and massive transformation of the room, but they quickly gained their composure and remained silent.

After she has finished with the redecoration, it was time for her song to reach its end. She then threw away her crown and instead of making an ice dress like before, she disintegrated the one that was on her and revealed her riding attire. As for the final part, she finished it like she did it the first time. She went to the balcony of her observatory tower, sung the last line, walked inside and slammed the door.

The next thing she saw was her stunned audience. Hiccup and Toothless' mouth was gaping wide open.

"Well?" She asked after a minute of silence. The effect of the adrenaline rush still wasn't gone yet and her heart beat even faster than when she was singing.

Hiccup and Toothless closed their mouths instantly and got to their feet before they clapped. It wasn't surprising to see Hiccup clap his hands but…Toothless? Elsa never thought that he could do that! Toothless was standing on his hind legs and smacked the front of his legs together repeatedly. It sounded like a clap alright, but a meaty one.

"That was AWESOME!" Hiccup said and Toothless nodded before he warbled what Elsa thought was his compliments. "And if that is what you consider bad, you just have an unhealthy standard then!"

Elsa blushed. "Thank you,"

Hiccup smiled as he approached and took her hands into his. "No, thank you," he said. "I'm sure that wasn't easy but you still did it for me. I am a lucky guy to hear your song,"

The Snow Queen blushed harder this time. "Well, okay-um, thank you again?" she said before releasing Hiccup's hand. Suddenly, Hiccup was nudged towards Elsa by Toothless. Their bodies impacted together quite hard and it send Elsa tumbling towards to the floor. Fortunately, Hiccup's quick reaction kicked in and he immediately snaked a hand around her waist and brought her close to him.

Well, to be exact, it was _very _close. So close in fact that Hiccup could feel her breasts on his chest. However, Hiccup didn't notice that as the both of them were lost into each other's stare. After what seemed like an eternity, they managed to return back to reality.

Hiccup immediately released Elsa and they both backed away from each other as if one of them were diseased. He then turned around to find a snickering Toothless. "Toothless! Bad dragon!" he scolded.

Toothless rolled his eyes in response and warbled at him. Hiccup then blushed before he replied. "It's not that simple!"

Elsa wondered what they were talking about. It must be something about her and Hiccup.

The dragon rolled his eyes again before he stretched and yawned. Elsa noticed this and decided to take action before anything weird could happen again.

"Well, it has been a long day! We all are tired and I don't want to keep the both of you up any longer. So follow me and I'll show you to your room!" she said and immediately went out of the room.

Toothless warbled again and Hiccup blushed. "You know, when you get your own girl, I'm going to tease you every moment I get,"

The dragon then grinned before he warbled his response, causing Hiccup to sigh. "Oh right, you don't know the concept of shame. Alright, you win this one bud,"

To Hiccup's annoyance, Toothless decided to rubbed it in by blowing a very small plasma to the air. The small plasma blast then exploded with a small pop.

"Show off," Hiccup said with a smile. "Come on, we need to sleep,"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Alright! So there are a few things that I want to discuss about.

**1)**

I didn't put the entire song of Let it go because I didn't feel that it was needed. You all already knew the song and it would be a waste of space. Even if I did made a few changes to the song choreography, it was rather minor that I felt I was writing the original Let it go sequence.

Still, you guys must be wondering why Elsa's transformation was reversed. Why didn't she create her Snow Queen dress? That would require extensive modification to her riding attire and it wasn't suitable for riding Toothless or anything actually. That and the action was symbolic for something. What is it I wonder?

**2)**

Most of you would think that Hiccup's perspective is weird, in that Hiccup embraced the concept of being a monster instead of rejecting it. And I'm pretty sure that this concept is rare in the Frozen archive (not sure about HTTYD though, because I rarely frequent it, heh). Anyway, there's a reason for that.

What is the reason, you ask? Well, I find that the concept of "being a monster is totally evil!" and rejecting being a monster to be cliché and boring. Seriously, BORING! I scrounge through the Frozen archive and almost all of them follow the same formula. Now you might think that I'm weird for thinking like this, but I think that it is not. Because outside of the Frozen universe, the concept of embracing being a monster isn't all that weird.

For example, this trope is used in stories where the characters are not human; vampires, hybrids, werewolves, mutants, demons and what not. And most of them embrace their monster and human sides. Sure, they might get conflicted about it at first, but then they would find that being a monster is actually quite cool. And what was more, if someone that isn't a monster could love them…that speak VOLUMES of their character. One of the best example I could use is Dante from the Devil May Cry franchise (the original Dante, not the new one, mind you), and he turned out the one of the coolest character in gaming.

So yeah, you can say that the concept was carried over to this story through other medium. And I could do with a story where Elsa is fine in being a monster (but still good) and have to kill.

Another thing that peeved me is what the Frozen archive constitutes for what being a monster is. Most of the story's definition of a monster for Elsa would be when she had killed.

And I was like -.- that's it?

Heck, most stories even made it that killing was the ultimate NO NO for Elsa. That if she killed, the whole world would implode or something. And I was like, oh come on! That is ridiculous! Why I think so? Because if Elsa hadn't been born royalty, then yes, those concerns are legit because she doesn't need to kill. But Elsa is a royalty, a leader. She has to prepare for the possibility that she might have to kill someone, directly or indirectly. With her magic, through someone else, or with her powers as a ruler.

You might say that I'm harsh, but that's the truth. I'm a realistic kind of guy and this is reflected in my story. Frozen is set before World War 2 where war, especially the huge ones was very common. It was only after World War 2 that nuclear weapons had eliminated huge scale wars and transform war into different forms (through politics, media, etc. etc). As such, Elsa had to prepare for either assassination by leaders that are scared of her, war because of her or other reasons. This is like a soldier that doesn't want to kill when killing is part of his job description.

And when I see this 'Elsa should never kill' issue in most stories, I would be like…ugh. Not to say that it would automatically make those stories bad, it just ruins part of the experience. It isn't that bad if war and fighting isn't a central theme to the story. However, if the story is about Arendelle being attacked and this trope is in play…

Imagine this, Arendelle was attacked and her people are being slaughtered left and right. And that Elsa didn't use her powers for more than making ice walls and blizzards. In the end, the invaders were repelled but not before a third of the population is killed. And then that Elsa would be like…"that's okay, I can live with that! But if I had killed a single soul, then it would definitely crush me!"

If that were to happen, I would be like…YOU COULD HAVE PREVENTED ALL THIS! If you were the people of Arendelle that had lost your family, what would you feel and think about that Elsa? Would her clean conscience matter anymore?

Still, I understand why most Frozen stories go that route. Because Frozen belongs to Disney after all and you know, kids stuff. If Frozen had been geared for the adults in style of let's say, Game of Thrones, then I don't think Elsa would have any problem about killing people.

Of course, this is my opinion. You don't have to accept it if you don't agree.

Still, for those of you readers that have read all the way through here, you guys are SUPER AWESOME! Oh and thanks for hearing my opinion/rant?

And as usual...

**Read and Review!**


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